BRADY'S 6 MONTH PICTURES

Brady did such an awesome job at picture taking! He is still working on getting those top teeth in, which is why that tongue is sticking out in each picture. It's so cute, though. Our main focus was Brady and his pictures. We thought we'd give it a shot to get a picture of the two boys and then a family shot, but we weren't really happy with how any of those turned out. Tyler was really not in the mood to take pictures. It's okay, though. When we got Brady's 3 mth. pics. we got some really good ones of the boys and a couple good family shots, so all we needed this time was Brady to be a rock star, and he was! Here's some pictures of our photo shoot.

UPDATE IN PICTURES

One thing that happened this weekend, that I didn't take a picture of, was that Tyler used the potty numerous times!!! He started on Saturday while we were in Des Moines at JC Penney's for pictures. Lee took him to the restroom and he miraculously went pee! In the past, if he goes pee in the potty, than he gets a couple m & m's as a reward. Well, we didn't bring any with us, because we had no idea that he would choose that day to start going in the potty and JC Penney does not sell M&M's. While I was in the portrait studio with Brady, getting his pictures taken, Lee was running through the mall with Tyler trying to find some M&M's. He ended up getting a small cup of crushed M&M's from Dairy Queen in the food court. Besides going in the potty at JC Penney, he also went in the potty while we were shopping at Babies R Us, and then we went to Chili's for lunch and he went in the potty there, as well!!! Yeah, for Tyler! He didn't keep it up at home, but it was an exhausting day, and we were just so happy that he did what he did! Sunday, Tyler went twice in the potty while we were at church and then he was in underwear for the rest of the day! He did awesome! One accident while he was in his chair eating lunch. Oops--too involved in the food! And then another accident in Brady's room, while I was getting Brady ready for bath. For just getting the hang of this, he did a great job this weekend and we are very proud of him. I just hope that he keeps it up! We will see... This is a picture of Tyler's awesome throw. Yes, he does throw left handed and bats/golfs right handed. Our future star!
The boys playing with their Dad! I love this picture!
This doesn't happen too often anymore. Brady has been in a routine for a long time now and loves to sleep in his bedroom with his sound machine on. I guess the trip to Des Moines and pictures really wore him out! He was exhausted! (and Tyler, too!)
Grandma Mary playing with Brady. Brady's eyes were on Bailey. He loves to watch that dog!

Brady loves to play with his feet, but only when they are bare. I'm so glad that those dimples are staying!

When I grab my camera to take a picture, so does my shadow, Tyler. Here's the boys and Brady sitting up!

Brady's new trick: sitting up all by himself!!!

I'm bummed you can't read his shirt--it says Ladies Man.

This "trick" has really only happened this one time. But look how grown up he looks. And, yes, the diaper is extremely huge on him, but the smallest "nighttime" diaper they make is a size 4 and Brady is not there yet. If we didn't put him in a nighttime diaper, I'd be changing lots of wet sheets and washing lots of peed on pajamas.

Naked Brady laying on Dad.

Playing in the "fort" in the kitchen.

He is always such a happy boy!

NEW THINGS

NEW VAN! I have yet to tell the "blogging world" that we did end up having to purchase a new van after the accident. We bought it at the end of January, so we've had it for a month already. We made the deal over the phone while we were on the way to Indianapolis. Lee had gone to look at it one evening and we purchased it without me ever seeing it. I trust Lee when it comes to picking out vehicles, so this was not a problem for me. I do love it! It's a Dodge Grand Caravan and it drives so smooth. One thing that it has, that I didn't realize that I would love so much, but I do, is the doors that you can open and close with just the touch of a button. It's amazing, really! When I've got a car seat on one arm and Tyler's hand in my other hand, it makes it hard to close a door. Now all I have to do is push the button and it closes all on it's own! It's great and makes me very happy! Tyler loves the van, of course, because of the DVD player. It has stow 'n go seating, which we have had to use once already. It's a great van and I'm happy with our purchase! I just took this picture tonight, so sorry you can't see it very well.
NEW TV! About a month ago, we realized that our TV needed a new bulb put in. Lee had contacted Geek Squad at Best Buy and they were going to take care of it for us, because it was still under warranty. Great! We got a call 2 weeks ago saying that the bulb was on back order and was going to be awhile, so we could either wait for it, or they would let us pick out a new TV that is comparable to the one we have and they would "exchange" it. Of course Lee chose the option to get a brand new TV. So, on Valentine's Day, we took our 50" TV with us in the back of the van to Best Buy in Ankeny. They found a couple TV's that we could choose from, all Lee had to do was make up his mind. It was between a couple TV's that they had in stock at the store there, in Ankeny, or a 60" TV that they had at the Ames store. 60"! A 10" upgrade and still a high quality TV. So, we were on our way to Ames to pick up the 60" new TV. In order to fit this huge TV box into our van, our seats had to be put away. First time using the stow 'n go--very easy, by the way! We now have an even bigger TV in our living room. Again, very happy with our "free" purchase! Didn't get a picture taken of this one, but you can imagine!

NEW DOUBLE STROLLER! I have been wanting a double stroller since last August when Brady first came into this world! My mom spent the weekend with us this weekend and was wonderful enough to get this for us--THANK YOU SO MUCH, MOM! We were in Des Moines on Saturday for Brady's 6 month pictures, so stopped by Babies R Us to check out strollers. This was the first one that I looked at and I love it! Tyler loves it and can't wait for the weather to get warmer! I had to put the boys in it and walk around the house. Tyler didn't want to get out--he loves walks so much! I cannot wait to take this and my boys out on walks soon! Tyler's peeking through the "window" and notice that all Brady wants to do is get his hands on Tyler!

TYLER'S 3RD AND FINAL CARSEAT! While we were at Babies R Us, we decided to look at carseats, because Tyler has outgrown the one he's in now. We got him an awesome 3 in 1 booster seat. It now is a 5 pt. harness car seat, which is just like what he's always been in. When he grows out of the harness, you can use this seat with just the van seatbelt, and when he gets extra big, you can take the back off of the seat and you will just have the bottom booster to use with the van seatbelt. Thank goodness we have finally boughten our last carseat for Tyler! And luckily, Brady can use all of Tyler's old ones!

BRADY'S BAPTISM

We were finally able to get Brady baptized last weekend. It was a great mass and Brady (and Tyler) did awesome at church. Brady didn't cry the whole service--he did great! I'm so proud of my boys and am thrilled that Brady is now bapized! Lee's parents were here for the event. My mom, dad, and brother came for the evening, and Brady's godparents, Katie and Mike Tunning, were here. It was such a wonderful evening spent celebrating Brady.

Us at Brady's baptism. Brady is now 5 1/2 months old.
The proud godparents: Katie and Mike Tunning

The Holy water.

Drying off his head.

Father Reynolds showing off the two boys! Welcome, Brady Joseph into the Catholic Church!

Our family with Lee's parents.

Our family with my parents and brother.

Our boys with the Tunnings.

Our family with Father Reynolds.

***On a side note. We just got back home from Ash Wednesday service. We now know that Tyler doesn't really like "church," he likes what he usually gets AT church. What I mean is that usually he will receive snacks and juice while we are at mass. A. Because if we go Sunday morning, it is around snack time and if we go Saturday evening, it is dinner time. and B. Snacks and juice keep him happy and QUIET! Well, tonight mass was at 7:00, which means that he had just had dinner. And he ate his whole dinner and a treat! We decided that we didn't need to take anything with us for Tyler because he shouldn't be hungry. WRONG! Once he got to the pew, he asked for apple juice and goldfish! I know he wasn't hungry, but he must think that if he's at church, he should be receiving something to eat and drink. Needless to say...once we received our ashes on our forehead, we split! It didn't help that it was so close to bath/bed time and Brady was exhausted! We gave it a shot!

BRADY

Our Brady. He is such a sweet baby boy! He is growing so fast and is getting so big! He is honestly a happy baby. He gets upset when he's hungry or tired, and that's it. The last video that I posted was of Brady almost rolling over. On Monday, February 1st, Brady DID roll over from his back to his belly. I still haven't been able to catch it on video, but he does a great job at it! He also is getting more stable at sitting up on his own. He can't sit all by himself, but if he's got legs around him or some props, he does a pretty good job! So, I'm sure that will be next and it will come sooner than we think. Brady has been eating rice cereal like a champ and drinking his formula like crazy. Today I thought that maybe he would benefit or enjoy a little something more and different, so we tried to give him some baby food. All we had was green beans, so that's what he got to try. Here's the pictures below.

Smiley Brady at 5 months old. Growing so big! 5 months old.

He's still happy at the end of the feeding. Or maybe he's just happy that he doesn't have to take anymore bites!
He gagged a couple times, but kept opening his mouth for more bites. He's hilarious!

He's looking at me like, "What are you feeding me, Mom?"

Dad, help me!

Loving his jumperoo time!

Jump and bounce!

Tyler gave Brady a sticker. He decided that the best place to put the sticker would be on Brady's head.

Looking up to his Dad with a smile.

He's really starting to love to play with his toys. Or grab them and put them in his mouth.

Our sweet little baby boy. Yes, we decided to start putting him to sleep on his belly a few weeks ago when his incoming teeth were causing him so much pain, therefore he was getting less and less sleep. Now, he's sleeping great!

TYLER

Our Tyler. The things he picks up on every day! The new words in his vocabulary. He amazes us! He cracks us up! When he is not throwing a fit or whining about something, he is the funniest little boy! This weekend was our first "free" weekend since November. Every weekend in December and January we had somewhere to go or had company at our house. It was so nice to be here for the weekend and just be our family! Since we were home all weekend, we thought that we would try HARD at the whole potty training process. Saturday morning we put Tyler in big boy underpants. We had the little potty in the living room so that he could watch cartoons and still sit on the potty for a long time, trying to go pee. Unfortunately, no success! We cleaned up Tyler's pee 3 times just Saturday morning. Once in the kitchen, once on the stairs, and then once in our master bathroom. On a side note, we also cleaned up Bailey's pee twice on Saturday! Since it wasn't going well Saturday morning, we went back to diapers, but still had him sit on the potty to try when he needed to try. I guess that he will be ready when he's ready.

Here he is sitting on the potty in the living room.
Enjoying snack and cartoons while trying to go pee on the potty.

Up in our bathroom. Notice the floor is a little wet. I think that this was accident #2.

Big Boy in his big boy underwear.

He loves his Thomas the Train underwear!

This is Tyler using his dumptruck as a snowblower. He loves to snowblow around the house.

Tyler helping Daddy build new things in the laundry room!

Taking a break from helping Dad.

Pretty sure that right before this picture was taken, Tyler pushed Bailey and was extremely mad at him. Our poor old dog puts up with alot from this child!

Tyler rocking his blue bear like a baby. The picture does not do it justice, but it was so cute to watch!