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!

Where Are You Christmas

Christmas did not linger this year. It seems like every year, things get busier and busier and time goes by faster and faster. When I was little we didn't put up the tree until 2 weeks sometimes just the week before Christmas. It was my family's way of trying to keep the worldly part of Christmas out of reach at least for a little while, but despite the fact that the tree was up for a lot less time, it seemed like Christmas lingered on a little longer. Now it just seems to come and go! I guess that this is what it is like to grow up, sometimes I wish my perspective didn't change as an adult and I could see the world through the eyes of a child again. Don't get me wrong, there are so many things I love about being an adult at Christmas...by far the best one is to watch my own children experience the magic of it all. Thank goodness for them, they make it so much fun.

Colby woke up first Christmas morning. He was so sweet to wait patiently for about 20min for little Brody to wake up. Brody actually never got up, we woke him up. Lucky little boys, Santa brought exactly what was on their lists. Colby ended up with a Nintendo DSI, an Imaginext Space Rocket, and a slinky toy. Brody got a ride on car, and a slide, which he broke in all morning long, probably sliding down it about 50 times. And low and behold Santa even brought Daddy just what he asked for, a money tree. Santa wasn't on top of his game with this one...it's a fake, but we didn't tell Colby that :) Don't look to closely or you'll see all one dollar bills...I guess Santa doesn't grant money wishes.

Brody is our little chocoholic. He found the big chocolate Santa in his stocking and sat in this very spot for about 30 minutes, just gnawing on it. Every time I tried to take it away he cried. I let him indulge...and he did all day.

Colby's Rocket

See, still gnawing.

Brandi, sent me this darling apron and gloves. She knew somebody that knew somebody and this lady actually custom made this for her. She wanted to give me a little piece of Texas...isn't she sweet. She has always been good to my boys, and she spoiled them this year too (no surprise). They loved everything and so did I!! Thank you so much girl!

After we had our Christmas at home we went to Mimi and Papa's house to open gifts and have brunch. This year we tried to tone it down over there and asked to draw names, but Mimi and Papa had other plans. The kids of course were in hog heaven, tearing open packages, and for a while the floor might have gone missing, and Brody may have even disappeared for a minute or two in all the paper. Then just when we thought all the craziness was simmering down, they made everyone close their eyes and brought out bikes for all the kids and Matt and I. One day, maybe one day, we can tame Christmas, but it wasn't this year, so we sucked it up (as difficult as it was :) ) and totally enjoyed it!

We never get pictures with Mimi, so I kept trying to signal Matt to sneak in some pictures. I thought this one was adorable.

Before the madness of unwrapping began, Brody was saying everyone's names, and we were all clapping for him. He was very proud of himself for saying "MiMi, PaPa, and GiGi"

Let the madness begin....

We had a great Christmas, and even got to come home early in the day this year. We spent the night relaxing and winding down from all the excitement. We missed everyone in Texas for sure, and hopefully next year we will be there somehow! It even snowed in Texas this year. We missed that snowy and icy Christmas day! Pretty cool considering it hadn't happened there since the 1920s. Happy New Year Everyone!

Here Comes Santa Claus

Every year, the Greenwald's Christmas Eve tradition, is to have dinner together and read the Christmas story from the bible while the little ones "act" the parts of all the biblical characters. It never fails though that the "big kids" also play a role (probably because they just can't let it go :) or more often than not we have not had enough little ones. Last year I had to play Mary, and Brody was baby Jesus. This year the naked doll got the role of Jesus, and I had to carry the sheep because he wasn't cooperating. So needless to say it is always a sad production, but always fun and meaningful.

Before we read the scriptures Taya gives a short FHE lesson for the kiddos. This year she talked about the different symbols of Christmas (i.e: Holly, Angels, Candy Canes..etc)

I hate to say this, but Clint, you look a little bit like a terrorist...

Uncle Dave did a fantastic job reading the story, and even improvised and added in the part about the Wisemen (that actually comes much later in the bible- I think they arrive when he is about 1 month old)

We all voted that Courtney should have actually put on the size 3T angel costume, but she too improvised and well, Callen we aren't sure what kind of Shepard you are, but you might be from Mexico, and you might also have though you were playing the role of the Karate Kid. Conner... Colby informed us you were the fearless leader of the Wisemen, you do in fact look fearless with that crazy beard on...I'm just not sure if you are the fearless leader of the Wisemen...maybe an Amish Hell's Angel!

There is nothing funny to say about this adorable sheep. Although had I not cropped my face out we could have said something funny about me :)

Colby was a great King, his staff could use a little work, but it served its purpose. We had a great night. It was so great to see Courtney and John. Bentley and Gracie were so big, and so adorable, and little Lucy, oh my gosh, precious! Of course if I left out how excited Colby was about Santa coming it would be a crime. He was literally on pins and needles. Counting down every hour of every day. We had special privileges with Santa this year and got to call him 4 times to see where abouts he was. We made the last call when we got home from Mimi and Papa's house. Colby hand selected all the cookies for Santa and put them along with some milk by the Christmas tree. He had no problems going to sleep that night. Despite all the poking fun, I love all my cousins and they played excellent and memorable rolls in the play! What a fun night!

Polar Express Video

Any one who really knows me, knows that I absolutely can't stand to hear my voice or see myself on video...so this is a huge stretch for me!! You have to know that most of the first part of the video is black, and it is just mostly us talking because it was soooo dark our tiny video recorder just didn't have enough light. We literally steps from the train as it arrived...it was really cool. Also, we were so excited to be in the moment with Colby that we were not really paying attention to what we were doing with the camera. It is seriously edited and cut in several places...but I really, really wanted my family to see this....so here goes...and really know that the pictures and videos did not do the magic of this really special day/night justice! It was truly magical! You'll hear other people talking and some guy yells something out about an iron horse in the beginning....but you'll hear Colby say "A Chooo chooo," "You gotta be kidding me," "I feel like I'm moving myself" (as the train is pulling up), and " Oh my gosh"... It's a little long, but gives you the gist of the night! Merry Christmas Eve everyone!!

All Aboard...

Last Weekend on the 18th we gave Colby the most fun surprise I think we have ever given him. We left Brods with Mike and Taya, and took him to Williams, AZ to ride the Polar Express train at the Grand Canyon Railway. I was so excited it took everything I had in me, not to tell him, since I had booked this trip back in August. We stayed in the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel. Our drive up was so fun. About 30 mi outside of Flagstaff the snow appeared. The ground was covered, and the road highway was just lined with pine trees and snow. The excitement just escalated! We didn't tell Colby anything except that he was getting a huge prize and we were taking him on a trip. After we checked in to the hotel, we told him and he was soooo excited. Just the weekend before he was begging us to go on a train one day and telling us how much he loved trains.

We decided to take the 8pm train so we had plenty of time to play and eat before we got on the train. The station was literally steps from the hotel, so we walked to the station picked up our tickets and looked at the two trains they had on display, and played in the snow for a little while.

How can you see all that snow and not have a snow ball fight? We finally found some soft snow over by the tracks. Most of it was like ice around the station, b/c it had been almost 2 weeks since it snowed.

You have to take what you dish out is all I'm saying. Daddy and I got smacked with so many ice balls that we had to give him a little bit of his own medicine (of course we were nice and found soft snow). He squealed and laughed it was so much fun.

Colby and I in the lobby before we got on the train. In our PJs all ready to go!

Waiting to board the train was so fun. Everyone was in the jammies and the kids and adults were all equally excited. Everyone was laughing and screaming as the train pulled up. It was truly a magical night. I really get teary eyed thinking about it. It was just that happy like a little dream land.

They really made everything so special. Everything was very simple, but really sweet.

Most of the train ride was in the dark, but we had to travel through a lighted "time tunnel", you know, to get to the North Pole. On the way we were served hot chocolate and cookies just like the book and movie by the sweetest chefs on the planet.

They read the book to us and walked up and down the isles carefully showing each page to the children. When we arrived at the North Pole, Santa and his giant sleigh and reindeer were in the town square waving at us, and all the toy shops and town were lit up behind him. It was a beautiful lights display (all the pictures were blurry). We sang songs and passed back by the North Pole one more time, and then much to our surprise....who appeared on the train....

Santa!!! As you can imagine the kids and adults went wild! It was really like being a little kid again, and if this is not the real Santa...I don't know who is!

Santa walked down through the car and gave each child a bell from his sleigh.

If you can see it, look at Colby's face after he got the bell...it was really incredible to watch him experience such joy!!

All he could do the rest of the ride was hold that bell to his ear and ring it. It was the perfect way to drown out all the rest of the worldly things and just experience the magic of this season.

The rest of the ride he was pretty quiet and quite tired. He was up way...way...way...past his bedtime, but that's what it was all about!

The next morning on the way home, we had to stop and enjoy the amazing scenery and soak up all that cold snow. So we just pulled over off (route 66, yes we can say we have driven on route 66) and played in the snow. We were sinking up to our knees in it, but managed to have Colby snap this great picture.

And we left, with the incredible memories we made in our hearts and this beautiful picture of snow covered forests in our minds! It was the best weekend ever, and there was no doubt about it we had caught the Christmas Spirit!