Fun at the zoo!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iPLB7EsCBE

I hope Charlotte doesn't mind me posting this, but she made this video about our trip to the zoo last week. She took such cute pics of the kids that I wanted to share with everyone. We had a really fun time on our zoo trip, and near perfect weather (we were actually complaining that it was a little too hot!). And best of all our kids made some great memories together! We look forward to more fun times with Alison, Jamin, Travis, Charlotte, and Brock.

Bye bye Petalprincess!

I won't be selling for thepetalprincess.com anymore because the owner wants to focus more on selling her products in a couple stores instead of online. You can still find cute flower clips on her website, but her stock seems to be pretty limited at the moment. I have quite a few clips and headbands in stock that I would like to sell, so if there is anything you can't find online, chances are that I probably have it. I also have a few discontinued items as well. Right now I'm selling all of the headbands I have for $1 each with the purchase of a clip at regular price (no shipping charges or tax).

Brandon goes to school...

Brandon started preschool at the end of March and he LOVES it! His face lights anytime we even mention the word "school"! When the bus comes to pick him up, he jumps up and down and screams "there it is, there it is" over and over! And when he get's home in the afternoon, his face is beaming with happiness! This is such a good experience for him, and I'm so glad that he likes it so much.

The only bad thing about it is that I always get a little emotional when I see the bus pull away. It's a little bittersweet to let him go. It's for the best though, and it is nice to get a little bit of a break twice a week. =)

Miss Rylee turns 1!

Actually she turned 1 back on January 29th, I'm just really slow at posting lately. It was a special day though, so I wanted to share the fun with everyone. The day of her birthday fell on a Thursday, but we decided to celebrate with our family on the following Saturday. Rylee's grandma and grandpa (my parents) were there, along with her great-grandpa, her great aunt Debbie, her aunt Jeni and uncle Ben, and their kids.

Rylee wasn't too sure about opening presents, but she loved to pull the bows off!

And she liked playing with the wrapping paper once I pulled it off the presents!

She also loved hamming it up for everyone. Unlike her usual somewhat reserved self, she danced, sang, and went around showing everyone what she got for her birthday! It was super cute!

She also enjoyed her cake, although she wasn't quite sure how to dig in at first. She got the hang of it eventually though.




Here's her cute birthday cake, and...

her own little smash cake!



I can't believe my baby is a toddler now! I say it all the time, but really, where does the time go? Rylee has grown into such a sweet, loving, good natured little girl in such a short time. We love her and we love watching her grow every day. Happy Birthday "Littles"!!!

Catching up with long time friends...

Ok, so I'm more then a little behind on my blog- I still have Rylee's birthday to blog about and that was back in January. I'd like to blame it on being busy (that's part of it at least), but I think it's more because I can't seem to find my creative juices lately. I have fun things to write about, but when I start to type it all out, it just comes out looking lame. Not that I have that many blog followers, but it bugs me to read my lameness. Anywho, I'm giving the ol' blog thing another try today.

A dear friend of mine, Jessica, from years and years ago came into town on vacation and I, along with another very close friend of ours, Katee and her friend Kim, were able to get together for a visit. It was so fun to catch up with these girls! I'm lucky enough to be able to talk to them on a weekly basis, but it's been way too long since I've seen either of them.

Saying goodbye...

Brandon turns 3 this Friday, which marks the end of our time with The Infant Toddler Program, and everyone involved with it. It will be a big change for us, as our 3 therapists have been coming into our home for a year now. We will miss them greatly and it will be hard to fathom what we will do with our time in place of therapy, since it's been a routine for so long. These people hold special places in my heart now, I'm beyond grateful for everything they've done.
Our speech therapist, Kristi, has been one of our biggest advocates and we are truly sad to see her leave. Brandon has loved her from the start (literally, she was the first person he ever said "I love you" to), and it's because of her that his language has blossomed so much in such a short time. Kristi has always gone above and beyond her job to help us in any way possible- there aren't enough words in the English dictionary to express how thankful I am for that!
Christine, Brandon's Occupational Therapist, is another person that I am unequivocally thankful for. I'm sure I would have pulled my hair out long ago if it weren't for her! Chris comes into our house on a weekly basis to help Brandon with anything from simple tasks, like brushing his teeth, to next to impossible tasks (for Brandon, at least) like transitioning with ease and playing nicely with Rylee. She's done everything from stay late to help me with paperwork, to listen to me vent on a regular basis. She's an absolute super-hero in my book, and I don't know what I would have done without her.
It will be hard to say goodbye, especially for Brandon- he talks about Chris and Kristi all the time. I hope that his new preschool will have people just as devoted in helping Brandon as these ladies have been.

Such a silly little man!

With Brandon's new found vocabulary has come quite a few funny conversations! For example:

The other night when Richard got home from work, Brandon was just waking up from his nap. Richard opened up Brandon's door to let him out of his room, but Brandon wouldn't get up from his bed. Richard sat down on the bed with him and asked him what was wrong. Brandon, in a very dramatic voice, said "I just can't take this anymore" and laid his head back down on the bed.

Then last night Brandon was cuddled up with me being all sweet and lovey. Trying to be sweet back, I said "are you mommy's big boy?". And here's how the rest of the conversation went:

Brandon: "No"
Me: "Oh? Are you mommy's little boy?"
Brandon: "No"
Me: "Are you Mommy's baby boy?"
Brandon: "Nope"
Me: "Are you a girl then?"
Brandon: "Yep Mommy, I'm a big girl!"

Guess we'll have to work on that one. =)


He made us laugh again tonight when he randomly came up and asked me if I have DirecTV. I think that means that we should probably stop watching so much TV. lol