BRADY'S BIG BOY BED!

WOW! Brady's in his big boy bed!!! And loving it!!!

He looks so small in this big bed!

We all went to the furniture store on Monday night to look at beds. I knew that I wanted to be looking, so that when summer came around, I could take time to get Brady into his big boy bed. Well, we found one that was a great price that we couldn't pass up, so we bought it and it got delivered while we were in Iowa City. I got it set up right away, just so that Brady could get used to the fact that there was a big boy bed in his room. I thought that maybe he would want to lay on it every once in a while to read books or whatever. Well, yesterday afternoon (Saturday), at naptime, we took him upstairs and he wanted to nap in his big boy bed. He had the biggest smile on his face that showed us just how excited he was about this bed! He fell asleep right away and took a 2 and 1/2 hour nap! His face was priceless when he woke up. His smile was so big and he looked so proud that he slept in his new bed! Oh, how I wish this could have been this easy with Tyler! Both boys into their big boy beds at 19 months old! :) Bedtime Saturday night was a bit different than nap, but still not bad....

At bedtime Saturday night. Look how excited he is to be in his new bed! He also loves the fact that Mom, Dad, and Tyler can also lay in bed with him.

The three boys hanging out in Brady's new bed.

After much excitement and "playing" in his new bed, he was not falling asleep. Knowing that putting him into his crib, was going to make him mad, that's what I decided to do. I layed him in his crib and the angry cry started immediately. I left the room to let him cry for a bit. I gave him 5 minutes and went back into his room. I asked him if he wanted to go back into his big boy bed. He turned his body and head away from me and continued to lay in his crib. He obviously was so mad at me for making him lay in his crib that now he didn't even want to look at me! It was very funny! As I walked out of the room and shut the door, a picture frame fell down in his room, made a loud noise, which scared Brady and made him cry. I went back in, and his arms went up for me to cuddle him. After hugging him for a bit, I then asked him if he wanted back into his big boy bed. He answered with a yes. I put him into his bed and he fell right asleep. He slept in his bed until 1:30 am. Again, he woke up with so much excitement that he couldn't get himself back to sleep. He ended up sleeping in his crib until this morning, but is back in his big boy bed for nap right now. With being up so much last night with excitement, he needed a morning nap this morning!

Lee and I have never let either Tyler or Brady sleep in bed with us or even sleep in our bedroom. They both were put into their crib to sleep the day they came home from the hospital and remained their for their first 19 months. So, when they transitioned into the big bed, it was their first time ever sleeping in an actual bed. The transition was a bit rocky with Tyler, but was to be expected. This whole transition with Brady has gone surprisingly well. I guess he just wants to be in a big boy bed like his brother. We'll see how the week goes and the crib might be coming down next weekend!

Yeah, for big boy, Brady!

SPRING BREAK

I had "spring break" this past week. We had 3 days off instead of a whole week, but it's still better than nothing and it was much needed after the hours that are put in for conferences in the days before! On Tuesday we got a call from daycare that Tyler had a high fever. Lee went to pick the boys up, since I had conferences all evening. Tyler actually had a fever Monday night as well. His fever ended up lasting until about Thursday. And then Brady got it! So, my plans of taking the boys to daycare on Wednesday, so that I could have a day at home to get some things accomplished, was not the way it turned out. I kept the boys home with me on Wednesday and then we drove to Iowa City to Grandma Mary's on Wednesday afternoon. My mom and I took care of two sick little boys all day on Thursday and then Tyler was starting to feel better by Friday, finally! However, Brady was not. I had planned to stay at my mom's until Saturday morning, but with them being so sick, we went home Friday after dinner so that they could hopefully get a good night sleep in their own beds. While the boys took their naps on Thursday, I ran out to the mall to do some shopping. I'm pretty sure that it's been well over a year that I have been out to the mall by myself to do some shopping for myself! It only lasted about an hour and a half, but it was still so much fun! I knew that I needed to get back home to those sick boys! On Friday, since Tyler was feeling better, my mom was able to take him out to the mall to play in the playground, ride the carousel, and ride some other rides. He had a great time and enjoyed some alone time with Grandma. I stayed back and took care of little Brady. It wasn't the best spring break I have ever had, but I am glad that I had my mom's help to take care of both of them while they were sick and I'm glad that I already had work off to be home with them!

First night at Grandma's. They were both feeling pretty well in the bathtub. However, both of them were up in the night with fevers.

While the medicine was doing what it's supposed to do, Brady was a joy! He was having a blast playing "boo" behind the curtains. One sick little boy. Eating a popsicle to make his throat feel better.

Another sick little boy. Laying on mom with a high fever.

But once that fever is gone, he's back to being Brady! While Grandma and Tyler were out at the mall, Brady and I were playing "boo". He was hiding in the bathroom and I would come "find him" by throwing the door open. He thought it was quite funny!

He also spent much time with Grandma's buttons. He would take the buttons out of the basket, drop them in between the table and the wall....

And then bend down to pick them up and do it all again!

NICE AFTERNOON

Last Sunday afternoon turned into a wonderfully warm afternoon that we spent the entire time outside. The boys played and I did yard work! We all loved it!!!

Tyler gave Brady a quick ride in the wagon. Here's Brady with his obsession of holding onto WAY too many of the same object in his hands at one time. This time the object was chalk.

Now the object is Easter eggs. I believe that there are 3 in one hand and 2 in the other.

He's just happy to be outside without a jacket on!!!

I am very thankful that my kids try many different things to eat while they are seated at the dinner table. And most of the time, it turns out that they like it! 98% of the time, they eat what Lee and I eat. I make one thing for the night and we all eat it. They love their veggies, meat, rice, noodles, pretty much anything! On this night we grilled out and then had a rice mushroom dish and asparagus to go with our meat. Both Tyler and Brady ate everything on their plate and Tyler was always asking for more asparagus! They also love broccoli!!!

Brady also loved the asparagus, however, it was a bit more tough for him to chew. I am so proud that they eat so well....And I did that!

Tyler thought that it would be fun to hang upside down on the couch and Brady thought that it would be fun to jump off the couch and onto the pillows. Here we go!

He made it and he's okay! :)

He's a bit silly!

And he's a bit wild! Luckily he has not mastered the somersault yet!

This is the big smile that I get when I tickle him. Priceless!

GRANDMA MARY WEEKEND

We are very lucky that my mom visits us often. The boys adore her and get filled with excitement whenever they see her or talk to her on the phone. She helps Lee and I out whenever one of the boys gets sick, one of her favorite hobbies is to buy only the best of clothes for the boys (and Lee and I), she likes to clean my house when the boys are napping, she plays, plays, and then plays some more with Tyler and Brady, she's the most generous and unselfish person, and she always knows exactly what to do and say!
Last weekend, we had her stay at our house for the whole weekend, which was great, because it's always a nice little break for myself! Instead of having Tyler as my shadow, he turns into Grandma's shadow! She also enjoys sitting down and having a beer with Lee while talking about sports. She loves her son-in-law!
We really didn't do much for the weekend. Just stayed at home and played. Sunday morning was a nice morning, so Grandma got the kids out on their bikes.
Lee and I went and ran some errands on Saturday night and then went to dinner in Ames. It was a bit of a drive for just dinner, but there is a place there that we have been wanting to try out. We had a great night out!

Saturday morning. Grandma reading a book to Tyler.
Grandma and Tyler playing catch.

Sunday morning. Grandma taking Brady on a bike ride.

Tyler on his bike. One of the things that we had to get while we were out on Saturday night, was a horn for Tyler's bike. Not that we thought he needed one, but we were told by Tyler that he needed one. "It's so that I can tell Brady to get out of my way!"

So, that red circle thing is his new horn that he absolutely LOVES!

Grandma taking Tyler on a bike ride.

NEW DOORS

As lucky as we are, Lee works at a door plant and recently was able to get us new interior doors in our entire house (for free!)! We now have 20 something new doors in our house. They are solid and beautiful! We got to pick out what door we wanted and what hardware we wanted for the doorknobs. We love the finished product! The only downfall....The handles are easy for Brady to use. Therefore, in his "free time" he enjoys opening and closing any and all doors in the house! ;)

This is what all doors in the house look like now.
Except this one. This is our closet door in our bedroom. The mirror is huge and built INTO the door! Awesome!!!

SCI

Last weekend we took the boys to the Science Center of Iowa for a nice Saturday trip. We all had a great time! The first thing that we did when we got there was probably all of our favorite. We went to the Star Theater to watch Big Bird, Elmo, and other Sesame Street characters on a dome screen. They taught us about the stars and Earth. The kids were in awe of the whole event!

After the star video show, we played, played, played!

They started at this wall that was full of vaccuums, pipes, balls, etc. They would drop the balls into a "vaccuum" and the balls would fly up the wall and then do an "obstacle course" down the wall. Brady loves to carry way more than one thing in his arms at one time. He tried to always have at least 3 or 4 balls in his arms at one time. They stayed and played at this 'wall' for a very long time!

Brady also played at the train table for a good amount of time.

Lee and Tyler built a rocket out of paper to put it into the rocket shooter. Their rocket didn't turn out so hot. But, it was nice to watch them work together and try it out!

This shows Tyler and Brady giving the weather on Channel 13 news!

Playing in front of the green screen.

This was very cool! They could have played with this thing forever. You push the 'pins' through to the other side to see your hand prints, faces, whatever.

Lee and Tyler kept putting their faces into it, so Brady wanted to do it too, however he just put the top of his head into the thing.

Tyler caught a fish!

Bubble Bay. Lee and I thought that this was pretty neat, and we figured Tyler would really like it too. However, it was messy, so Tyler didn't play too long with the bubbles.

Instead, Tyler put on a puppet show for me.....

And Lee played in Bubble Bay!

GARBAGE TRUCK

A couple minutes of each Thursday morning is spent looking out the front window at the garbage truck. Both of them love to watch the garbage men pick up the garbage. Tyler even hops on the grocery cart at Hy-Vee and says that he's getting on and off the 'garbage truck.'