My First Frame!

Okay, so I have wanted a miter saw forever! I have been looking on craigslist and even borrowed a friend's saw to see if I really was ready for this kind of tool. Anyway, the reason I have wanted one is to start making frames. I have wanted to do this for a long time, and I knew it would not be as easy as buying a saw and cutting some wood. It is a pretty tedious task. You have to be very good at math and measuring! If your cuts or miters are off by even a little bit your pieces do not line up and fit together. My dad gave me some money at Christmas to put towards this hobby at Christmas and helped me make actually my very first frame, but he did most of the work. Unbeknown to me, Matt gave his parents the idea that I wanted a saw, and so between the two of them I was able to get the saw I wanted and a new blade with 80 teeth to cut the wood just so. I am pleased to announce I have finished my first project. I started with simple inexpensive molding and a small (8x10 and 5x6) frame size to make sure I could do it, and I think I am hooked! Next up...some way cooler molding and a much, much bigger frame.

SHHH....The person I am giving this to, doesn't know about it yet.

Rain Drops Keep Fallin' On My Head

Last week, we had some pretty crazy weather. It was cloudy and rainy for most of the week and I think for 2 or 3 days it never stopped raining. Our back porch turned into a giant puddle...and of course the boys couldn't resist. It was cold, too cold to be playing in the water, but how often do you get to do this? I know what some of you are thinking...they are going to get cold and get sick. Did you know there is actually no medical evidence that you get sick from being cold. So I am totally off the hook, right? Well, I think so. They had so much fun and they did not get sick....

We ended up playing outside like this 3 times, and they were so sad when their puddle dried up.

Saturday I could not resist the urge to spike Brody's hair into a big'o mohawk. He looked so cute even though his hair is a little long for it. The best news, both he and Colby are doing great after their varying facial injuries :)

He is so cute, he loves to say "tcheeese" for the camera!

Colby being silly and showing off his steri-strips. He got his stitches out on Friday! Yipeee!

On The Mend

Despite the bruising looking worse, we are actually on the mend. Brody went to see the doctor today and she said that he doesn't appear to have any deformity of his nose, but he does have a lot of swelling left. She has to see him again on Friday just to be absolutely certain there is no hematoma, and to check everything out one more time. He doesn't seem to be bothered unless he bumps it or rubs it and then he does cry. I can't imagine the headache he must have.

The first two pics are him yesterday, and the bottom one is today. He was happily playing peekaboo and saying "cheeeese" for the camera.

Colby might be able to get his stitches out Friday, and he is totally fine. His cut is coming together nicely and looks so much better. Colby loves the camera too, it's all he can do to get me to take a billion pictures of him making silly faces, so he can crack up at himself looking at them later. He is such a goof ball. My brother and I used to do this for what seemed like hours at night in the bathroom mirror laughing at ourselves and each other....hmmm...wonder where Colby got this silly gene?

Thank goodness for the wisdom of children. The simplicity of their sweet spirits and their natural resiliency to all the little and even big trials they deal with is a reminder to me to slow down and stop stressing over the little stuff....well..at least I can try....

Are You Kidding Me?

No, apparently not is the answer, but I really do wish the the last 27 hours were just a bad dream. Yesterday started out pretty good. The boys slept in a little, and we were all cuddling on the couch. I walked away to do something, and Brody stood up on the couch. Matt reached to get him, and get him to sit down and Brody screamed and ran the other way caught his foot on the arm of the sofa and face planted like a plank board into the giant subwoofer. So off we went to the pediatric urgent care at 8:15am (which turned out to be closed so we went to the ER instead). They got Brods in pretty quickly, but there is always a wait that is entirely too long for any child. Nonetheless we did see a very good PA who thought he had indeed broken his nose and was concerned he had a septal hematoma. So he ordered a CT scan. The good news, he did just barely break his nose, but good enough to have two black eyes and a bloody nose now for 24 hours. We got home a little after 1pm yesterday and he is doing fine. I'm telling you. Kids really are resilient. And that awful morning was over thank goodness...or was it?

No it really wasn't quite over! Just before dinner, Colby threw a tantrum that landed him a fall into the kitchen table and quite the cut on his chin. Although small, it was very wide, and after two hours when it had not stopped bleeding, we called in a huge favor to a doc in the neighborhood. He kindly looked at Colby and said that it probably needed stitches, but that because of the location we could probably get away with trying to close it with steri-strips ourselves. After a trip to Walgreens and attempting several times to get it to close, I couldn't get it. So Matt took Colby to urgent care at 9pm last night. The doc there said it was too wide to use glue and they could not butterfly it either. Unfortunately poor Colby had been picked at so much by that point when he heard the word stitches he freaked out. So basically he was wrapped up like a burrito (which I think they do anyway), while two nurses and Matt held him down for the stitches. I sighed a huge sigh of relief when Matt brought him home and we settled in to bed. Thank goodness that horrid day of Urgent care was behind us... I mean we were very grateful the injuries were somewhat minor and everyone was just in one piece for the night. THAT IS UNTIL THIS MORNING....

Colby woke up this morning pretty chipper all things considered, and then I looked at his chin. The bandaid was still in place from the urgent care, but he was turning bright red and had a pretty nasty rash all over his face and down his neck. So I took off the band-aid to see what was going on and one of his two stitches was untied. SERIOUSLY ARE YOU KIDDING ME? We really did not want to go back to the Urgent care, and poor Colby...really. But obviously we had to go. After a pretty wretched experience there waiting entirely too long for something that never should have happened. I did put my foot down and we got Colby the care he deserved and should have had last night. The director of the clinic did a great job and gave him the two other stitches he should have had last night to hold it all together. It turns out he had an allergic reaction to the lidocaine shot he was given yesterday (we think)...so we had to use a different and less effective numbing cream today, and take a dose of benadryl. Despite all that, today he was such a brave boy, he didn't even cry. So here are the battle wound pictures from today, all sewed up, rested up (kind of) and hopefully not to see the Urgent Care or ER for at least 5 days when the stitches come out.

Little Brody is doing fine today. I will take him this week to follow up with his pediatrician, but he is such a happy little boy. Poor Mimi, the pictures scheduled for next week will either be a great memory we can laugh about later or will be cancelled for the ?? time this year. As for Matt and I...we are just praying that the rest of this week will be uneventful (to say the least). Maybe Brody is being reborn into his avatar form to infiltrate the Na'vi , and if we paint his face blue, maybe, just maybe we could find some humor in this!

C-O-L-B-Y Spells Colby

Looking at this sweet boy, it is hard to know where to begin. He doesn't really have a ton of quote-unquote milestones because he hit the mark on many things a long long time ago. Just this week Brody was weighed at the doctor and checked in at 26lbs, so I went back and looked at Colby's growth chart...well...he weighed that much at 10months. So that explains a lot with him. He has always been, and probably will always, be ahead of the game with most everything in terms of growth, and his little personality goes right a long with it. So I will start where I started with Brods. Colby has an incredible vocabulary, he has always used words correctly beyond his years, and unfortunately this year, that includes his first curse words! Crap being the one we wish he had never heard us say, because clearly it is all Matt's and my fault! The biggest shocker was just a few weeks ago. He was outside riding his bike and couldn't get something right when he said "da*# it" Hmmm, well, I can't say I have never said that combination of words, but I can be sure it was only a few times. Goes to show that they really are listening and watching the example of their parents. Shame on me! Some of his Colby-isms are failing me now, but when they come to me I will post them. One little phrase he says a lot is "in case your knowing" that usually means I am trying to tell you something. I can't think of many moments where Colby's hands are not moving, or he is not jumping up and down with excitement. He loves all things boy, including anything that pops, blows up, or makes any noise, which is why it is no surprise that he LOVED the mentos geyser that Auntie Marcie gave him for Christmas. Yeah, we went out and bought the econo-pack of Mentos that weekend. Check it out:

Colby is a total joke-ster. If there is something goofy or slapstick he is all over it. He loves watching I-Carly and Wizards of Waverly Place (even though they are a bit beyond his years, and believe it or not he loves Dirty Jobs (also a place he may have heard a cuss word or two).

At this age, he is also a bit of a know-it-all. Mom and Dad are never right...and there are lots of little silly things we bicker over. If one picture can say a thousand words...how about this one:

I am amazed at how many little traits have stayed constant with Colby; they really just make him who he is. He is very strong willed, and a little bit OCD, but is very observant of his environment when he wants to be. His memory is like no-other...seriously probably just short of photographic. He remembers things very vividly and accurately, sometimes recalling things he did or we did as a family from when he was like 1.5yrs old. He loves routine, and not just I eat breakfast in the morning and go to sleep at night routine. I mean serious routine, if things are not done in the right order or we don't read exactly the same number of books every night or brush our teeth the exact same way, or put the toys away just so...it throws him for a loop. He still is "zoning out" and having some serious temper tantrums, but we are working on all of that in preparation for the big K next year. Primary has been much better lately since he has decided to stop escaping and school too. Colby loves school, he loves to learn and loves completing worksheets and little art projects so preschool has been really fun.

Learning to ride his new bike has been so much fun, and also challenging for him. You know all those giant hills we have here are pretty hard to pedal up and down. He is getting the hang of it, and really loving to ride it, which is kind of funny to Matt and I because for so long he adamantly refused to ride anything other than a big wheels.

If he lived in the 1800s I am sure he would have discovered some amazing things that we would now take for granted. He is such an explorer, with a fantastic analytical mind. He loves to find out how things work and is constantly asking how and why things are the way they are.

One thing we found out this year is that he loves to hike. He is just born to be outdoors. He absolutely loves it when his Grandpa visits. Even at 4.5yrs he has already figured Grandpa out. He knows Grandpa knows all the answers about nature, and pets, and just about anything. I love that he looks up to my Dad so much.

Some of his other loves: bouncing on the trampoline, playing at the park, surprises, movie nights, Scooby Doo, Star Wars movies and Lego DS game, Reading, drawing pictures and putting them in envelopes, treasure hunts, chase, games and puzzles, and school.

This is terrible, but this is classic Colby. I can't tell you how many pictures I have taken where he has looked just like this. He is the master of making funny faces in pictures. I laugh so hard when I see this.

Colby has always been a good eater. Right now...not so much. Most every night he protests dinner poking and gagging his way through anything I fix (even if he used to love it). The upside is that he is learning to count, add and subtract as he takes bites, spits them out and has to start over again. Some of his favorite foods right now are Panda Express orange chicken, In&Out fries, all kinds of fruit, PB&J, Ham, Pepperoni, and frozen Bertolli chicken parm. But his all time favorite snack now is Popcorn (he can never get enough of it). It's a healthy list isn't it? Funny to say...but he has been teething this year. He has just recently gotten his 3rd molars in on the bottom and is starting to break his top right one as well.

Despite picking on his brother most of the time, he does love Brody very much and the two of them are so cute together. I cannot believe Colby is almost 5 yrs. Some days I am truly amazed that God has trusted me with these two precious lives. Today was one of those blissful days, where most things went right, and it was a beautiful day. I went for a jog this morning and Colby rode his bike along side Brods and I. We fed the ducks and played at the park before jogging home, but on the way Colby saw these big trees and decided that someday we needed to come back to that very spot for a picnic. Well, today we did. It was such beautiful day and spending it with these two little guys who were just happy as little larks to eat lunch under a shady tree and play with two very simple toys for an hour reminds me that the simple joys in life are the best!

The Milestones of Brody

It has been a while since I have really written down anything about the boys. My mom was reading me a diary entry that she wrote from the 80s the other day and I was inspired to just write down some fun things about the boys. I'll start with Brody. He is talking up a storm, and his vocabulary is exploding. He understands far more than he can say, but here are the words he is saying:

baawl - ball

wa wa- water

hi

bye bye

booww-bowl

Ni Ni-good night

na na- either nap or no depending on the context

boo boo - poo poo

der go - there go

der -there

ishy - fishy

dow - cow

da da - dog

boo - moo

tseee - cheese

plee - please

uh oh

muuu - more

be be - Colby

beeeh beeeh - bear bear

no

uuh hugh - yes

yay - Im happy thank you

cank ooh - thank you

uh uh - no

yeah - yes

ahh guuh - all gone

The other day he might have even said in only words a mom can understand "I dropped my bowl"

Here is some video of this precious boy babbling away. My niece Amber used to repeat "coota coota" and Brody's is "gooli gooli" There is nothing more scrumptious than that sweet baby talk and chubby cheeks.

Besides saying new words,Brody is just really growing socially. He loves to say Hi to everyone he sees and bye bye when it is time to go. He smiles and loves to play peek-a-boo and chase. With the good also comes the naughty...it is just part of this age and he is starting to throw a few minor tantrums. Mostly he just cries when he doesn't get what he wants, and sometimes he will even go throw himself on the floor and lay face down crying as if the world was over...you know how it goes, but I guess the second time around now it doesn't really bother me, in fact, some days it's pretty funny. He is very mild mannered though and is super patient most of the time. He really listens to what you say and ask him to do. Matt and I both shrieked and said no when he tried to grab something he wasn't supposed to have the other day and he immediately cowered and put it right back. Just yesterday he got the marshmallows out of the pantry and asked for some. When I long windedly (this isn't a word is it) said...thank you for asking but no....he immediately put them back in the pantry and cried a little bit, but he is VERY obedient (this is a whole new thing for me). He loves to play outside. Some of his favorite things to do are to slide, climb, and swing.

A habit we need to break is the routine of his morning bottle. Yes, he still loves his bottle of formula in the morning. He is an extremely picky eater, but what he does like he eats well. He loves rice and beans, spaghetti, spaghetti O's, ramen noodle soup, chicken noodle soup, crackers, pretzels, and popcorn. His favorite junk food is anything chocolate. Here is a video him begging for chocolate cookie dough we were making one day...it's pretty funny....

He protests all meat. Occasionally he will take it from someone other than Matt and I, but most of the time he will not touch it. He still takes one look at any vegetable and turns up his nose, and most of the time he will not touch milk either. He is beginning to eat a few fruits. He will nibble on bananas, apples, and sometimes watermelon, but never eats the whole piece.

In order to eat all this food he does need teeth, right? Well, I have been horrible about keeping track of his teeth, but he did start teething his last two (the bottom canines) at Thanksgiving and they are almost all the way in now.

He still naps two times a day on most days. It is essential that he has his favorite blue bear for naps. He loves his "bear bear." He carries it with him every where, but will let it go sometimes. He also still takes a binky at bed time only and he only uses it to fall asleep.

So that is my little Brody in a nutshell. It is hard to believe that he is approaching 17 months. We all love him so much. Our lives would not be as full without this precious little guy!