Grandparents Day at school!

If you remember they had a "Grandparents Day" back in the spring (before Bria started) and Tom and Barb went to have snack with Brady at school and buy some books!  Well, Brady doesn't go to school on Wednesdays now but Bria was there and they came for Bria's "Grandparents Day" - how special!  She was excited to see them!  And they bought some books for her and Brady!  So sweet!  It's a neat thing b/c for every book purchased, scholastic will donate a book to the school for the kids to read there!  Bria made them a really cool poem with her footprints on it!  It was so cute!  We don't even have anything with her footprints besides the certificate the day she was born!  Too special for Baba and Papa!  So happy they were able to take off work and come over to share Bria's special day at school!  Thank you for making time to come and buying some books for the kiddos!  So sweet of ya'll!  And, I know Bria felt special having her grandparents come and see her new class and meet her new teacher!!!  YAY!

Wonderful weekend!

Mayme came up to visit the kiddos again this weekend!  She didn't get to enjoy last weekend b/c both kiddos were feeling under the weather, but this weekend was so much better!  They got to play, read, do flashcards, enjoy the weather, ride in the wagon, the list goes on and on!  I know Mayme enjoyed her grandbabies and is already counting down the days to return for another visit!

Playing in the house during the much needed rain!  LOVE these kids!

Daddy getting some lovin in!  Sweet baby girl!  What a wonderful weekend!

1st day of school!

Bria's very first day of school!  EVER!  It was "spirit week" at Learning Ladder and her first day was on a Wednesday.  Which was black and white day!  I was so happy that Bria warmed right up to her teacher - Miss Jessica - and she crawled right up to the other kids and played!  She didn't cry which I was so happy about!  But, I kind of sneaked out the first day!  Hehehe!  She had a great first week and only shed a few tears - Mommy was PROUD!  I think she is going to LOVE school and the other kids!

Here she is on "Disco Day"

Friday was "Clown Day" and Bria and Brady were able to dress up! 

Brady had croup the first week of school and didn't get to go every single day.  However, he got to dress up for "Clown Day" and the above was the best I could come up with!  HA!  Here Brady is on his trial run in his new class!  I think he loves playing with the new toys for bigger kids in here!

What an exciting time at school!  I just don't know what I'm going to do when they actually start going to real school!  And, we still can't figure out where we want to move to figure out what school they will start at...The tough decisions of being parents!

Seriously???

Where do I begin???  Well, after a great weekend and week Friday approaches and Brady's slight runny nose has turned into him not feeling his best...But, he isn't feeling horrible, just not himself.  Still goes to school...It was Bria's "trial run" day at school and she went for a couple of hours to try it out.  She felt great when she left!  I picked her up after my doctor's appointment and took her home and continued to make calls.  I then picked up Brady around 3:30-4 and I could tell he was fading...Richie calls me and tells me that he and Bria had been at Wal-Mart and she was fine until he noticed a tiny drop of blood in her ear when they were leaving.  He calls me and says he doesn't think it's any big deal maybe she just scratched herself...When I have him go check it out again he's like "UMMMM, it's actually quite a bit of blood coming from inside her ear" so I call the pediatric clinic to get her an appointment.  Keep in mind - it's Friday at 4:30.  So, I get her in and poor little Brady wasn't feeling so hot...UGH..While Richie takes her to the appointment, I get Brady settled...The doc checks her out and cleans out blood and wax and doesn't think it's anything to be alarmed about.  I remember specifically the ENT telling us "If it bleeds after this initial first week after tubes, she needs to be seen by me" so I told Richie come Monday morning I was making her an appointment.  We go to bed.  About midnight Brady wakes up with a CROUP cough!!!!  Not croup AGAIN!!!!  :(  So sad!  So, I was up with him from about 12-3.  He finally went back to sleep and was restless for the rest of the night (in spare bed with me)...So, I was pooped on Saturday.  We tried keeping them separated all day Saturday so Bria wouldn't get it.  My mom came up to help and of course both kids wanted their MOMMA b/c they were feeling under the weather.  So, it was really hard for anyone other than me to do anything with them.  Saturday was a roller coaster filled with ups and downs.  Come Saturday night Brady seemed to have a lil appetite back, YAY!  He went down and around 9ish he started coughing and making a weird sound so I went in to check on him and he puked ALL over me.  All down my neck and arm - UGH.  I felt TERRIBLE for him.  He was upset and Bria was upset b/c I left her...She was hysterical and I gave Brady to Richie so he could get him all cleaned up and I could hop in the shower.  Needless to say - another really rough night.  Between me and Richie I think we got maybe 2-3 hours of sleep.  Brady couldn't rest - he kept coughing.  Richie ended up driving him around from 4:30-6:30 and almost took him to the ER b/c of his breathing...He left without shoes and wallet so that was out of the question...We were zombies on Sunday morning.  So, I decided to make a much needed Starbucks run.  My mom and Brady and I loaded up and headed that way...When I pulled on the interstate we heard a loud "Boom Boom Bump" and I looked in the rearview mirror..........MY CELL PHONE!!!!!  I accidentally left it on top of my car and it bounced on the interstate and before I could get it back, it was creamed by an 18-wheeler...NICE...I couldn't even muster up a tear b/c I was so overwhelmed with everything...When you have sick kids isn't the universe supposed to cut parents a lil slack???  I guess not...

Bria's poor ear...

Poor exhausted Brady - this is at 5:00 on Sunday when we were headed to church - he was WORN out.  I felt terrible for him!  Sitting upright was just about the only way he could breathe...AWFUL!  There is nothing worse than sick kiddos and feeling helpless bc you can't do anything.  HORRIBLE!!!!!!!

My manager was riding with me on Monday and Tuesday so Richie had to take them to doctors appointments.  Luckily Barb came to help so he could juggle everything while I worked.  I wanted to be there at the appointments with him so bad!  However, when he told me about how they had to clean out Bria's ear by straping her down, I knew I couldn't have done it.  I was so happy that he could be strong for both of us.  Turns out that in her right ear (the one that was bleeding) she had a blood clot!!!  WHAT???  How did this happen?  But, luckily I made the appointment bc something is growing over the tube in her left ear and if it doesn't soften enough for him to take care of it, they will have to remove her tube!!!  We would have never known had it not gotten checked!!!  I am so thankful to have made the appointment, but I am still scared to death of what might happen to her ears - IT'S HER HEARING AFTERALL!!!  UGH!!!  So, a follow up in two weeks will tell us everything - keep her in your prayers!  Richie then took Brady to his appointment to confirm what we thought all weekend - CROUP.  He gave Brady a steroid to help with the closing of his throat so it should help with his breathing.  Thank goodness!  So, hopefully we are on the downhill swing of things - WHAT A ROUGH WEEKEND!  Sometimes you just wonder - SERIOUSLY?  Does this happen to everyone??  Keep these babies in your prayers - they are so special to us!!!!  We love them so much!!!

Sunday - too much family FUN!

We love watching the kids at church put money in the basket when Father John says for the kids to come up.  We have never let Brady do it (mainly bc who knows WHERE he is going to run) so this Sunday we get brave bc he was behaving in church and I walked him up!  He did GREAT!  He held my hand the entire way and had the money in his other hand and he put the money in the basket ALL BY HIMSELF!  A tear came to my eye bc I was so proud that he was doing it without me telling him what to do!  The kid in front of Brady put his money in and I wasn't really paying attention but I heard Father John say "Oh, you are wanting change!" HA!  I guess he was trying to take some money out too!  Hysterical!  I was happy Richie captured a pic of Brady giving money to the church for the first time!  So proud!  After church I decided we needed a mini photo shoot since we all matched (accidentally - on purpose) HA!

Me and my sweet boy!

I love this pic above - PRICELESS!

Brady running and having a great time!

Bria just waking up from a nap...

Mommy being pulled in all directions!

My sweet angel walking!  She is getting really good at this!

My 3 most precious people in the world!  I love my family!

Tontitown Grape Festival!

Oh my goodness - I was at a meeting for work this time last year and missed the Tontitown Grape Festival!  I was so sad to see Brady on the rides with Daddy and eating grape ice cream ALL while I was gone!  I missed hanging out with them so bad!  So, when we heard it was coming to town I was thrilled to be able to be there with everyone and we had a BLAST!!!!

Here we all are riding the carousel!!  It was the first ride we went on!  I think they liked it!  It was hot so this was a nice lil breeze for them!  Too fun!

And Brady went down the slide - not once but about 6-7 times!  We decided we needed to slide down as a family before we all left and it was too much fun!!!  Brady LOVED it and Sissy looks terrifed but I'm pretty sure she loved it too!  It was great fun!

Brady also got to ride the motorcycle with mommy!  He is getting so big!  There are more things for him to ride now that he is getting older!

Baba and sissy girl!  Trying to stay cool and watch Brady going down the slide! :)

Baba and Brady sliding this time!  Too much fun!

Notice how in the pic above both kids are staring at the grape ice cream in my hand!  HA!

Awe - how sweet is that!!!??!!  What a precious boy!

And a precious lil girl too!  She had so much fun watching everything going on!

Running to the car!  If only this were zoomed so you can see their lips - hysterical!  What a great time - everyone had so much fun and even though it was hot it didn't feel TOO hot!  We all enjoyed the rides, the people watching and the shopping for spices and grape ice cream!  LOVE these kids!  Can't wait til they get older and we can save up for Disney World!

A week in pics...

Mohawk day at school!  He's so cool!

But he's still a stinker..I picked him up from school and took him and Bria for a ride in the wagon!  Richie was at work and it was just me with them...About 1/2 way around the block Brady decides that he doesn't want to be in the wagon anymore and instead wants to just run around like crazy (including the road which of course is UNACCEPTABLE)...The above pic shows him sitting in the middle of the sidewalk (I had pretended to be leaving him there) and I said "Brady, come on!" and what does he do???  Shakes his head no and smiles at me...OMG!  Well, of course people are out in their yards, etc. and when I went to pick him up he screamed bloody murder...Everyone is now staring...So, I try and let him walk beside me while holding his hand...NOPE - that didn't work either...This kid is STUBBORN!  So, while he is throwing a tantrum, I pick him up again and he then pulls my ponytail and tries to poke me in the eye!!!  Where did he learn this?????  I was FLOORED!  He's never done anything mean to me before!!!  He has on occasion hit me, but nothing like this...I couldn't get home fast enough!

And lil Bria was being uber sweet - THANK GOODNESS!  She loves her lil elmo!

One day just looking outside - PRECIOUS!  She is just so sweet!  I'm ready for cool weather so we can play outside more!  They LOVE it out there!

Brady's first knot/bruise on his head - playing a little too hard in the sunroom!  He is one tough boy!  Many bumps and bruises to come I am sure!  It was a rough few hours for all of us, but he proved it was no big deal!  Thank goodness!  But, this is the morning after...

Sweet baby girl!  Walking around everywhere!  She is so funny...She likes getting into everything!  But, at least she likes to pose!  Hopefully this will continue...She will be falling more soon enough...UGH!

While we were in Tulsa...FUN FUN and more FUN!

So, while we were in Tulsa guess who was having a TON of fun???  These precious angels!!  With their Baba & Papa!  I'm sure they played til they couldn't play anymore!!!!  Everytime we checked in on the kids they were just having a ball!

The above picture is so funny to me b/c they have really started playing so well together!  However, on this particular toy Brady thinks that only HE needs to play with it.  If she shows any interest at all, he will run with it to another spot and play until Bria crawls to him and tries to play and he hides with it again!  Hysterical!  They are the first ones to see it, and now he does it all the time!  We are really working hard on "SHARING" but that is easier said than done!

Just chillin...Looks like Brady found a comfy seat!

Dance party with Baba and Papa to the Hot Dog song!

Hanging out at the park - I know they loved this!  These kids would much rather be outside than in!  I'm so proud they had a great time with Papa and Baba!  I'm sure they were spoiled to death! :)  We appreciate them though and don't know what we would do without them!

But boy, was I happy to see them when we got home!!!!  They both cried b/c they missed us so much!  And I missed them!!!!  My sweet lil angels!!!!  It's so good cuddling after being away!!!

Swinging with Daddy!  I know he missed playing and getting tossed around! :)

We brought them back these ducks that light up so bathtime was EXTRA fun!

And, we had to play before bed...We sure missed these kiddos!  They were in great hands and I'm sure Tom and Barb enjoyed the one on one time - but, it's good to be home too!  Thanks again for taking such great care of our babies - they love you!!!  As do we!!!