Brady's First Christmas....starts at Mimi and Papa's

We always spend Christmas Eve at my parent's house ("Mimi and Papa") and this year we got there on the 22nd of December so Ethan and Brady got to spend lots of time with Mimi and Papa.

Brady was happy to be in Shelbyville.

Brady Meets Tessa

My good friend Monica and her husband Russ and their precious little girl Tessa came over to my parents' house on the Friday before Christmas to visit with us. We were so excited to see them, and Brady was especially excited to see Miss Tessa. I think Brady is definitely looking forward to being a little more mobile so he can chase her around:-)
Their first meeting:-)


Isn't she a doll?!

Ethan's Daycare Christmas Party

For Ethan's Daycare Christmas party they start by eating treats, then give the parents a gift that they made (this year it was a bell with their picture on it, which was perfect for Ethan since once of his favorite Christmas songs this year is "Jinger Bells"), then they do a book exchange (each child draws a name and then buys a book for that child). Ethan got a Cars book from Jailyn....does she (or her Mommy) know Ethan or what?!



Brady joins in the fun....Ethan insisted that Brady come up (he was downstairs in the infant room) for his party.




Ethan and his best bud Zachary.

Brady Loves His Daddy!

The Joys of Potty Training

Ethan was a little, well a lot, slow out of the gate, but he has finally caught on to the whole idea of going potty on the potty. I think the fact that he gets a "potty prize" at school if he stays dry all day has certainly increased his motivation:-)

Here are a few of my favorite potty training moments:

(1)Ethan, while sitting on his potty in front of the television:
E: "I want to watch television."
M: Picking up the remote, I ask him "what do you want to watch?"
E: "No, you do not turn on the TV. Daddy can do it. You can do it on Saturday. I am serious Mommy, don't turn on the TV."

(2) "As I was wrapping presents I heard Ethan, hiding behind the curtains, trying to go poo. I said to him "Ethan, you are a big boy and big boys go poo poo in the potty. Go right now and sit on your potty." Ethan response as he throws his arms up: "UGH!! Okay Mom....why don't you just kill me!"

(3) Ethan, again trying to poo on his potty, yells to me "Holy Moly Mom....it stinks in here!"

(4) Like a naive first time potty training mother and father, Ryan and I thought we could somehow train Ethan to go potty like a "big boy" without using bribery....how silly of us! We quickly learned that bribery is the only way to potty train! Of course Ethan wouldn't settle for something simple like M & M's. He prefers peanut butter cups when he goes pee and monster trucks when he goes poo. He even asks before he goes "what I get if I go potty?" He is quite a little negotiator, good thing he is only 3 years old and quickly forgets to ask for his "prize!"

(5) Ethan LOVES his underwear and can't wait to show them to whoever wants to see. I'm hoping he outgrows this quickly!

Bath Time!

Answered Prayers

Angels of God
From Heaven So bright,
Watch over my Children
And guide them right.
Fold you wings 'round them
And guard them with Love,
Sing to them Softly,
From Heaven Above.



I'm feeling very blessed today...prayers for Brady's good health were answered. God is good:-)

Happy Brady:-)

Brady truly is the happiest baby in the world, he smiles constantly, and his smile lights up the room. I swear the only time he doesn't smile is when I get my camera out...tonight I got some of a half smile...I'll take it!!

Friday Night Fun

Nana, Papa Cour, Lexi, Darrin and Parker came over tonight for dinner....the boys had a great time playing and dressing up.

Parker pretended to be a dog (he does have six of them at his house:-) He got in the dog kennel and started barking....

Ethan of course had to join him!

The boys decided to play dress up, Parker wanted to be a pirate (again....we like to add PJ's to our costume:-)

Why wear one pirate hat when you can wear two?!

Ethan loves dressing up like Spiderman....wore the mask all night even though he couldn't see anything!

Me and my little lovebug Brady:-)

Our Nightly "Routine"

I say "routine", but with two little boys and two parents that work full time, nothing is "routine." However, I often say that my life is organized chaos...it may be crazy at times....but it works for us! Ryan and I both technically get off work at 5:00 pm, however one of us usually ends up having to stay later than 5:00. Whoever leaves at 5:00 picks the boys up and usually ends up at our house around 5:40. We try our hardest to eat dinner together as a family every night (some weeks are better than others!), and while we are making dinner Brady hangs out in his exersaucer and Ethan plays. This week Ethan started bringing his toys in the kitchen so that he could play with Brady:-)




After dinner is clean-up, baths (Ryan is the king of bathtime!), a little tv, books or games, then brush teeth, say prayers and go to bed at 8:00 pm! All of that in 2 1/2 hours...again, organized chaos!!!

Sunday Fun

Ethan decided he wanted to dress up this morning....rather than take his PJs off we just made them a part of his costume:-)



My sweet baby Brady....I could hold and love on him all day long.

Exhausted from Black Friday Shopping

This year, like every year, I went shopping on Black Friday with my parents. The difference this year? Ethan, Brady and Ryan came along as well! We left at 7:00 am Friday morning for Fairview Heights and arrived around 9:00 am. We shopped all day and then went to the hotel around 5:30 pm for appetizers, drinks and swimming! Ryan and Ethan were the only ones to make it into the pool (it was about 50 degree water and they both ended up with blue lips....oh the things Ryan will do for Ethan:-) Ethan and Brady both got to sit on Santa's lap....Ethan asked Santa for "only two things...a toy car and Strawberry Shortcake." We are still trying to figure out the Strawberry Shortcake! We got up the next morning and headed to St. Louis Mills to do some more shopping! Brady was as happy and content as always...smiling the entire day. It was a new experience for Ryan but I think in the end he had a great time.

By the time we got home Saturday night we were all exhausted, and Brady was happy to spread out on the floor for some tummy time!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Brady and Papa Cour


Ethan and Parker playing games on Lexi's IPad.



Parker, Jack and Ethan watching Mickey....think they are close enough to the TV?