"UMA HAS IT!"

Yesterday we were driving in the car and heard Adele's 'Rumour Has It.'  It was just the kids and I and I don't believe that any of us were singing along to the music.  However, a couple songs had then come and gone after 'Rumour Has It,' when Brady started belting this out in the back of the car.  It was hilarious!
So...here's Brady's rendition of 'Rumour Has It' by Adele.  Enjoy!



CAMP OUT

We attempted our first night of camping out in the backyard this past Friday night and it was fun!

The boys helped Lee set the tent up, we had a fire with smores, fun running around in the backyard, and then bedtime stories.

When it was time to lay down and try to fall asleep, they did a good job at 'trying' to fall asleep, but neither of the kids succeeded.  It was hot!  There was also a race at the Speedway that night, so we could hear the race cars.  At 10:00, after I had already heard Lee snoring for awhile, I asked Brady if he wanted to go inside.  He quickly said 'yes' and we headed in.  About a minute later, Lee and Tyler came in as well.  We then all got a decent night sleep in our beds in our air conditioned house! 

They didn't stay the night in the tent, but they sure had a really fun night!

 Hanging out in the empty tent.

 Tyler won't eat an actual smores, but he does eat the chocolate, marshmallow, and graham cracker all seperate.

 And since Tyler was eating his smores ingredients seperate, so was Brady!

 The four of us around the fire.

 They did alot of playing and running around in the backyard while they were waiting for it to turn dark.

 My little, lovely, Brady and I.

 Brady and I went inside for a second.  While I grabbed something from the kitchen, he went upstairs.  When I got upstairs, I found him with his sleeping bag backpack on, his pillow pet, and he was putting his blankies into his Thomas the Train bag.  It was so cute.  He said, "now I'm ready to go to the tent!"

Tyler had come in to check on us so he grabbed his things as well.

 They are ready to get cozy in the tent.

Story time with my boys.

It might be awhile before we attempt this again!  :)

SWIM, SWIM, SWIM!

Gotta love summer time! 

We spend so much of our time playing in water in our backyard.  Whether it's the pool, water table, "water slide,"or sprinkler, we are out in the backyard a lot playing in the water!

Just yesterday, we were out by 9:00 a.m. and spent our morning outside in the pool.  It's wonderful and the kids have a blast and create new things to do with the water or squirt guns every day!

 They start at the tree and run together to jump into the pool.

 Brady Joseph

 Tyler Thomas

 Love this picture!

 Yesterday, we moved the pool to the slide so that they could go down the slide and straight into the pool.  They loved it!

This is Brady splashing into the pool from the slide.

And Tyler splashing in from the slide.

 These last two don't show them swimming, but to me, they are just really cute pictures of the boys working together as a team.  Tyler was holding onto the water can, while Brady filled it up using a squirt gun.

Then they both carried the water can back to the tomato plants to water them for me!  Awww!

Looking forward to many more of these days in our backyard this summer!

SWEET DREAMS

I absolutely love laying in bed with the kids at night.  They both are so sweet at this time of night and I usually get a little chuckle out of one or both of them every night.  These are times that I don't ever want to forget!

Tyler can talk and talk and talk when we are laying in bed.  His mind is going all over the place and he is thinking about any and everything.  I usually have to cut him off and remind him that we are supposed to be quiet and trying to rest in order to fall asleep.  Lately, Tyler has been very interested in being a grown-up.  The other night, he said, "Mom, when am I going to be a grown-up?"  I answered with that it was going to be awhile, and told him that kids get to have all the fun.  I brought up when we were at the I-Cubs game and that only kids were in the splash area during the game.  His reply back to that was, "but Dad got his head wet in the water!"  He got me there!  I guess Lee usually does do just about anything that the kids would!  I asked him why he was wanting to be a grown-up already, but he just giggled and wouldn't give me an answer.  Tonight, he was interested in when it was that he was going to lose his first tooth.  I have already told him a million times that it would be when he's either 5 or 6, so again, I gave him that same answer.  He is very excited to have a loose tooth in his mouth and even more excited for all his milestones in life!

Brady is a two-year old (almost three!) that is at a point where he is extremely attached to his mom.  Wherever I may go in the house, he says, "I go with you, Mom" and will follow me to wherever I may go.  This kid is by my side the entire day!  It's a good thing he's so sweet and cute!  This makes bedtime even better.  Tonight he put his arm around me, said, "Love you, Mom," and "Glad to be home, Mom."  It was so sweet!  He then turned his body the other way, but made sure to keep a hand on my arm at all times to make sure that I was still there and not going anywhere!  I also want to add, that the first thing he says after we are done reading a story, is "play (pray) Mom."  He then prays along with me, as we say the same thing every night.  I love it!

FATHER'S DAY AT THE BALLPARK

Father's Day was spent at the I-Cubs game this year.  My dad and brother joined us for a fun afternoon at the ballpark.  Father's Day was also Lee's and my 6th Anniversary this year, so it was a big day!  It was a beautiful summer afternoon full of sun and warmth.  It is honestly impossible for the kids to sit and watch a baseball game, so we are so very thankful that there is a sprinkler/splash park area for them to play in.  It's a nice place for them to take a break, play, and cool down!  So, we grabbed seats near the splash area and all took turns taking the boys over to the sprinklers.

It was a great day spent with my wonderful Dad and my wonderful husband who is also an amazing Dad!  And I know how much my Dad appreciated an afternoon at the game with his kids, son-in-law, and grandkids.  (We did miss Liz though!)  And I also know that Lee enjoyed some relaxation watching the game and taking a break while the kids were busy at the splash park!

The boys got Lee a new tent for Father's Day so that we can first practice "camping out" in the back yard.  He also received something that we created for him for his office at work.  For our Anniversary, we splurged and got a much needed, new grill!

 Josh, Lee, Brady, Tyler, and Grandpa Freese

 All the boys watching the game.

 One of the many times we took a break at the splash park area.  Here's Brady "kicking" the water.

 Tyler enjoying some time with his Uncle Josh.

 Both boys "hitting" the water.

 The boys were trying to get their Grandpa wet.

 Cubby, Brady, and Tyler.

 The boys giving Cubby a hug.  They were so excited to see him!

We got to run the bases after the game.  Tyler ran his fastest around the bases, and Brady wouldn't go without me. (no surprise there!--he's attached!)  Brady is on 1st base in this picture and Tyler is between second and third in his blue swim trunks.  Going into home, they got to give Cubby a high five.  Brady stopped and stared at Cubby for awhile, which is exactly what Tyler did when he got to run around the bases when he was two years old.  So cute!

KITE FUN!

For the first time, we actually bought kites that work!

And the boys love to fly them!

These pictures are from last Friday evening.  It was a great activity to do on a perfect summer evening.

It helps that we have the perfect backyard for flying kites!

Tyler picked a Captain America Kite.

Brady picked a Spiderman Kite.

Upside down sunglasses--that's his "thing."

Thanks to Lee for putting these kites together so that the boys could experience a new activity!

HAPPY TUESDAY!

Love Me Do!

Tyler sings and dances and doesn't miss a beat, as Brady notices that Tyler has his Angry Bird on the counter and therefore wants his as well.  He even asks for it with a 'please' at the end.  :)

BRADY'S SURGERY

We started off our summer break with Brady getting surgery on his 2 hernias.  Not quite the way I wanted to start my summer, but at least now it's done with and we will be able to move on.  Brady has had his umbilical hernia since he was born.  This is very common and wasn't anything to worry about.  About 3 months ago I noticed a protrusion above his belly button and was concerned.  I had him checked out at our family doctor, who then referred us to a Pediatric Surgeon in Des Moines.  I took Brady to Des Moines one Monday to see the Surgeon.  He confirmed that Brady had two hernias and that they were not related.  The one above his belly button, that I had just noticed a few months ago, is called an epigastric hernia.  With time, this hernia could have become larger and painful.  Since the doctor was going to repair this hernia, he was also going to repair the umbilical hernia as well.  So, the surgery was scheduled for Tuesday, June 5th.

 This was the only picture that I could find that really showed what Brady's tummy looked like before surgery.  I never took a picture of him bare within the last few months, so I do not have a picture that shows both hernias.  This picture was taken LAST summer, so only shows his umbilical hernia (outie).

 Surgery was scheduled for 8:45 A.M. on Tuesday, June 5th.  We had to be there by 7:15 to check-in, so left the house by 6:30.  My mom was at the house to stay with Tyler for the day, so that Lee and I were able to really focus on only Brady.  This picture was taken before surgery.  There was a lot of time to wait before surgery.  And of course, it was time that he wasn't allowed food or drink.  He wasn't allowed anything after midnight.  He actually did pretty well with this, however.  I had gotten him new toys and with the toys that the hospital had for him to play with, I don't think he thought much about eating or drinking.  This is his new Spiderman Airplane, which he absolutely loves!  The first surgery of the day was taking longer than what was expected, so he didn't actually end up being "taken away" until 9:15.  We played a lot that morning!

 In his peach gown, pants, and slippers.

 Playing with the race cars.

His Child Life friend, Kate, who helped in the 'staying busy and keeping our minds off of surgery' department.  Here they are blowing bubbles INSIDE, which Brady thought was pretty cool!

 It was time for him to be taken away.  What an incredibly hard part of our day!  It didn't help that Brady seemed so mad/sad that he didn't want to even look up at us as we were blowing him kisses and waving bye to him.  He just sat in that wagon and looked so sad as he got rolled away and into surgery.

 Here are the two nurses bringing Brady to us after he woke up.  He told the nurse that's carrying him, "I want my mommy!" 

 He just layed on me for awhile.  He really couldn't get close enough to me.  He kept nuzzling his face into me and grabbing me tighter, almost as if he was saying, "why did you leave me, Mom!" and "I'm so glad you're back!"  He was very sad and cried and cried.

 After awhile, he wanted his normal clothes back on.  While we waited to get the "okay" to go home, we let Brady color and he ate some crackers.  You could tell he didn't feel comfortable and he really wanted the IV out of his hand!

 He gave me a pretty good smile before we left.  However, this turned into being quite humorous, as he kept smiling and then relaxing his face and did that continually, almost like it felt kinda funny!  :)

 When we got home he seemed to be more awake, but just relaxed on the couch and watched some new movies that Grandma Mary bought him.

 I also got Tyler a new Spiderman Buggy toy.  He loves his as well!

 The boys and Grandma cuddling on the couch.  They were looking out the window and waiting to see some hummingbirds come to the feeder.

 The sweet heart shaped bandage that his doctor put on him after surgery.

 A random picture, but thought it was so cute!  Brady was wanting me to take pictures of some of his body parts; hand, feet, eyes, back, etc.  This one is too cute!

 "Laying low" doesn't really last in our vocabulary for very long.  The first day and a half he did a pretty good job at staying in his PJ's and staying on the couch.  By Thursday, however, he was ready to do what he always does.  He is not allowed to ride a bike or go swimming until he gets the 'ok' from his doctor on Wednesday.  I thought that this was going to be really difficult, but we've made it work and hasn't been so bad.  It has been a 90 degree weekend, so to not got swimming has been hard, but they have been able to run through the sprinkler and play in the water table out back.  We also took them to see the new Madagascar 3 movie on Saturday afternoon.  They loved it!

 Having an older brother that runs, runs, runs, doesn't help the whole "laying low" process.

 Brady was showered with gifts and cards!

 We were finally able to take the bandage off on Friday morning and were also able to give him a bath Friday night.  Here's his new belly button!

To me, his belly looks so different!  As of right now, I can only imagine his "old" belly and think his "new" belly just doesn't look like him.  I'm sure it won't take long for me to forget what his "old" belly looked like and only remember the "new."  And from what I have seen so far, I can hardly tell where there is going to be a scar.  He's pretty lucky, because I had this same surgery done when I was 6 years old and have a pretty good scar to prove it! 

I am so glad that this whole thing is over.  It was a rough couple of days and now we are only waiting to get the 'ok' from the doctor to ride his bike and to go swimming, and we will be back in business!