1.11.2010

sipping a strawberry smoothie with a straw


Yum - O! A couple of weeks ago we forgot to take B's sippy cup somewhere, and had him try drinking with a straw . . . after a few tries - success! However, since sippy cups are much, ahem, "safer," shall we say, than straws when used by a 15 month old, we usually still stick with the cup. But tonight we made strawberry smoothies (found strawberries in the freezer when I cleaned it out!) and broke out straws. Braden loved both the smoothie and the straw.

After the smoothie it was time to be silly . . .
stomping . . .

such a sweetie!

1.10.2010

a year ago today . . .



I love to look back through our photo archives - it is fun to see how much Braden has changed in a year (and a little bit scary and a little bit sad too). I'll admit I am one of those people who loves loves loves the tiny baby stage - so I miss this little face. Yes, Braden is tons of fun now too - he has such a personality and it is fun to watch/help him learn new things . . . but I still love that newborn stage.

1.09.2010

snow day #5

is it ever going to be warm enough to go outside?

Yesterday was our 5th snow day. Yep. 5th.

I'm sorry to report that I wasn't nearly as productive as on Thursday, but it was nice to be able to stay warm and cozy at home. Billy had a dr. appt in the morning, so was home with us for the afternoon. :) I think Braden and I both were in our pajamas until about 6:00 (pm), which one has to admit is a pretty good place to be when it is -20ish degrees outside. Ahhh . . . .



1.07.2010

snow day #4

And today marks snow day #4 - and I'll admit that I was hoping for this one! It's been a long, cold week back at school . . . and I think I was still dragging from staying out too late to watch the Orange Bowl on Tuesday night. So I was super excited at the prospect of the day off . . . I know, I know, we won't be so pleased come June - but I figure M-P is still ahead of most schools when it comes to our last day, since we had school until 12/23!!! (thus a shorter winter break).

Today's agenda, you ask?

Well, we sort of have a standing breakfast/brunch date with friends (another teacher and her daughter) when there is a snow day (hey, we all live in town, and usually we can at least make it a few blocks to the restaurant!) . . . so after getting "the call" (oh JOY!) and making plans to meet later in the morning to eat, Braden and I snuggled up to sleep in for a couple more hours.

He's the best snuggler. Really.

I had fully intended on taking him to daycare today (even if school was canceled) so that I could do my own thing - and had even proclaimed this intention yesterday when speculating the possibility of a snow day at school - but you know, when it comes down to it, I really like hanging with my little man. Yeah, I complain sometimes that it's hard to get anything when he's around (like right now - he is hanging on my arm and trying to reach the keyboard and "type") . . . and I was sort of bummed that our daycare provider happened to take the whole week that I was off for winter break off for her own vacation . . . but REALLY, Braden is so much fun, and is generally an agreeable companion.

Anyway, when we finally dragged our lazy selves out of bed and showered, we discovered that Grandpa Ed had come to visit - and shoveled our driveway! Yay! (And thanks, Dad!)

After enjoying our late breakfast, we headed home and I was surprisingly quite productive! I stuck chicken in the crockpot (tried this recipe - see our reviews later in this post), did several loads of laundry, sorted out/cleaned out our chest freezer (since Billy's parents just gave us a bunch of meat - thanks sooooo much!) - it was time to figure out what was really in there - you know, way at the bottom . . .

Then Billy showed up! :) - his vanpool decided to head home early due to the snow, so we all got to hang out together. Braden napped with Billy while I did some touch up painting that I have been meaning to get to - drove me crazy whenever I saw that spot on the wall, vacuumed, and cleaned our our linen closet . . . whew! I did get to snuggle up with a good book and take a nap of my own later on (you know, since I had supper made in the crockpot!).

So - the new recipe. It smelled fabulous all afternoon, and I thought it had good flavor. Braden really loved it, I thought it was tasty (although not visually appealing - shredded chicken over brown rice looks sort of blah), but when asked, Billy said he'd rather I not make it again. Oh well. I used up a bag of chicken breasts I found buried in the freezer.

And like I said, Braden really liked it.
He wanted more, and was sure to get anything caught in his bib. ;)


So that's been our day. Sigh of bliss.
Maybe we'll get to do it all again tomorrow . . .

We did get even more snow today (look at that railing!), and now it is w-i-n-d-y!
Time to go - someone wants me to come play with puppy!


1.06.2010

how 'bout those Hawkeyes?!

We had a great time cheering on the Hawkeyes to their big Orange Bowl win! Our little guy was all decked out in black and gold - and made it until half time.

We discovered that his preferred "tailgating"/game watching munchie is caramel corn - he loved it (and it probably helped him stay awake as long as he did - you can see remains of his treat in the pic below).

We watched the big game with friends in a super cool home theater, complete with stadium seating.

Braden was in awe of the big screen, and loved stomping his feet (a favorite activity these days) to the fight song. He also threw up his arms for "touchdown!" (which of course I did not get any pics of).

Sugar high wearing off later in the game . . .


Way to go Hawkeyes!

1.03.2010

vacation by the numbers

• 7 days off of work (seriously, that wasn't long enough! . . . we went until the 23rd this year . . .)
• 2 breakfasts out with friends
• 5 Christmas celebrations with family (in a 4 day span!)
• 3ish extra hours of sleep a day (gotta love sleeping in and naps!)
• 2.5 books read (not counting books read to Braden, of course)
• 685 new pictures uploaded to iphoto on my laptop (new camera, remember?)
• 2 movies watched (one even in the theater!)
• 153 (approximately, but they multiply I think!) new megablocks strewn around our house
• 0 days warm enough to use Braden's new sled :(

* 1 creative idea borrowed from Sarah's facebook status

1.02.2010

15 months

Our favorite fella will be 15 months old tomorrow! Now that I'm no longer specifically documenting growth via monthly photos or filling out pages in a baby book (his only goes up to 1st birthday), I'm going to have to try to remember to jot down milestones that are reached here.

Sooooo, here's an update on our big boy . . .
At 15 months, Braden
• loves balls - basketball, football - you name it! He's great at making baskets with his little hoop, and is learning to bounce and throw the ball too. At Christmas when we all received oranges and clementines in our stockings (among other gifts and goodies!), Braden had a blast playing with them (hey - if it looks like a ball, why not use it as one?)
• says a lot of nonsense words with great expression. We're still waiting on words, but sometimes he'll repeat things we say (usually just once). He does consistently say something like "whas-sat?" meaning "what's that?" - typically accompanied by pointing or gestures, and shouts "whoaa" when he is running/stomping (see below)
• likes to "stomp" - especially when wearing shoes and on a hard floor. We call this his "happy feet dance" - and he loves for you to join him!
• loves "itsy bitsy spider"
• enjoys climbing. everywhere. and has no fear. yikes!
• still likes books, and will bring them to you and plop in your lap to be read to
• current favorite toys: little people nativity and farm, horse head on a stick (you know what I mean, right?), stacking blocks, trucks, and of course, balls.
• eats like a champ - will try anything. anything. Has even eaten a lemon slice and didn't so much as flinch - just devoured. Now weighs in at 24ish pounds . . . haven't had a check-up for a while, so I don't know what percentile he's in, but I think his weight is catching up with his height.
• wears size 12-18 month clothes, depending on brand
• is still our little cuddle bug, especially when being read to or when he is sleepy
• has a contagious giggle
• makes the best expressions/faces