Top 10 in 2010

The top ten things I am thankful for in 2010.

1. My family. I cant imagine life without them. Justin took the kids to San Antonio several times to visit family while I stayed back and I didn't know what to do with myself, I was so bored. Justin kept saying "go do something, go shopping, have fun."

2. Moving back to the states. While I enjoyed our overseas experience, I was ecstatic to move back; friends, family, American food-aka Tex Mex.

3. Being able to be a stay at home mom. I will admit there are times when I wish I could go to work and have an adult conversation. But then I am reminded how lucky I am to stay home with the kids. Not too mention the house would never be cleaned and we would never have clean clothes to wear as that would be the last thing I wanted to do when I got home.

4. Our gorgeous new house. I loved our old house but LOVE our new house.

5. Our health. The worst that has happened is all of us getting the nasty stomach bug. I will take that any day over anything else.

6. Watching Kate learn and excel in school. She loves going to school and her friends. She just learned to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider in Spanish.

7. Watching Brody learn new things. Even though this is the second time around, it never gets old. Watching him crawl and walk for the first time is just as exciting as it was watching Kate.

8. My first 1/2 marathon. I'm glad I finished it at a better time(2:07)than I predicted and without walking.

9. My incredible husband who puts up with all my crazy ideas and projects. Justin is a great father and husband and we are extremely lucky to have him.

10. My friends. I have a great group of friends who are wonderful, fun, smart, funny, great listeners and who I consider my sisters. I can always count on them for anything.

Happy New Year!!!

Christmas

We decided early on that we wanted to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas at our house so that the kids could play with their gifts all day. We didn't want to open presents and then have to drive several hours especially on Christmas day. Justin's dad and step mom came up on Christmas Eve and spent several days with us. Santa was very generous with gifts this year. Kate got a Rapunzel and Belle doll, books, clothes and a new movie. Brody got some cars, a play phone, clothes and books. Justin's aunts got Kate a bath rob that has her name on, she liked it so much that she slept in it.
Putting cookies and milk out for Santa

Finding Santa's presents





Brody's favorite thing about Christmas-climbing on the presents



The day after Christmas we went to San Antonio to spend time with Justin's family. Justin's mom and step dad totally out did Santa by getting Kate a Princess car. Both kids loaded up with good presents, clothes, books, and toys.




Christmas was great and I cant wait to continue our traditions as the kids get older.

1st haircut

We took Brody to get his first haircut on Saturday. I held Justin off as long as possible because I knew after the haircut he would look like a little man instead of my baby boy. He sat well for most of the haircut but started to get antsy at the end. His baby curls are gone but still looks handsome clean cut.
Before

During

After

Santa

I took Kate and Brody to see Santa yesterday and it turned out just like I thought. Brody screaming and crying and Kate not talking to Santa. Kate had written a letter to Santa earlier in the week and was very excited to show him, that was until she saw him. As soon as we walked up to him, she covered her mouth and wouldn't say anything. As soon as I handed Brody to him, the tears started and he was trying to reach for me. I was so preoccupied with Brody that I wasn't watching Kate and how she was taking the pictures. I guess she was trying to pose by tilting her head to the side but instead it looks like her neck is connected to her shoulder.
My crazy kids.

13 Months

Brody turned 13 months today and there is no stopping him. He is constantly on the go. He now can get up all by himself without needing any help. It's so cute watching him put his little butt in the air when he is getting back up. He is now toyless in the bath as he is constantly throwing them out and getting the floor all wet. Brody still takes 2 naps a day and is a great sleeper at night. He loves being held-which I love, except when I am trying to get things done. Two new teeth came in this weekend, which led to a horrible diaper rash that lasted a couple of days. He still thinks Kate is the funniest person and loves giving her hugs.
13 Months

Hugging Kate

Movie Date

Kate and I went to see Tangled on Sunday and had a wonderful time. The movie was really good. We saw it in 3D but I don't think I will pay extra to see another 3D movie. There were only a couple parts that seemed to jump out at you. After the movie we went to lunch and then did a little shopping at the mall.
It was a great mommy-daughter day and I cant wait to have another date with my baby girl.

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving in our new house this year and it was great. Justin's grandparents came up along with my dad and brother. Justin smoked a turkey while my dad and I made the sides. It was a nice and relaxing day and I am so thankful and blessed for my family!!

Assessment

Kate had an assessment at school earlier in the week to see what she knows and she did great on it. She got 3's in all the categories. The grading scale is 1-beginning, 2-developing and 3-proficient. Her teacher thinks she may be ready to start reading and is going to start introducing sight words to her. She is learning so much, she can tell you the days of the week, the months of the year, she knows what sound each letter in the alphabet makes and can write all the letters. To sum it up, my child is a genius-hahaha.
I am so proud of my baby girl.

Happy 1st Birthday Brody

Our little Brody bear turned one today!!! We celebrated with a SMALL party. Small meaning Justin, Kate and I. It was perfect. After lunch, Brody(aka Kate) opened up his presents and had his cupcake. I think he liked playing with the cupcake more than eating it. I probably sang Happy Birthday to Brody 20 times if not more to him today and by the afternoon as I was singing, he was humming it. So cute!!
My baby is no longer a baby baby. He has been off formula and bottles for a week now, he is in a front facing car seat-which he still hates and is starting to walk more. I can close my eyes and remember everything that happened the day he was born including the pain. Which I will remind him of for the rest of his life.
I am so very grateful and blessed for the life and family that I have.

Halloween

For Halloween Kate wanted to be Jessie and she wanted Brody to be Buzz Lightyear. What Kate wants, Kate gets. She was so excited to go Trick or Treating, she kept asking all day, when we could dress up and go.
I got them both dressed a little after 4 as we were going to our block party, I got a couple pictures of them and then it went from fun to disaster. Brody didn't like his hood that went with his costumes, so after pictures I took it off but it was still velcroed to his outfit. He was sitting in the kitchen(you know where this story is going) pulling on the hood, he was pulling so hard, that his hand slipped and he fell back. At first I thought he fell back and hit his head on the floor-he has done it numerous times but when I went to pick him him up there was a blood on the floor and it was dripping from his head. I went into total panic mode. I was carrying him outside yelling at Justin(he was doing yard work) that Brody was bleeding, freaking out. We came back inside, Justin applied pressure to his head and within minutes the bleeding stopped as did Brody's tears. My poor baby had 2 cuts in the back of his head from hitting the corner on the kitchen island. Since the bleeding stopped we decided not to take him to the hospital.
I wanted Brody's first Halloween to be memorable but not in the give me a heart attack memorable.
Kate on the other hand, had fun going up to the houses and saying "trick or treat". This is the first year, I have actually let Kate eat some of the candy.

Kate's Birthday Party

This year for Kate's birthday party, I decided to keep it small and girly. I made fairy wings for all the girls to wear and sent them home with pink crown cookies. Even though her party was small, she still seemed to get alot of presents.

Happy Birthday Kate

Kate turned 4 yesterday and I am still unsure how the last four years flew by so quickly. I can still remember the first time I held her, changed her and nursed her like it was yesterday. We are so lucky to have a sweet, kind little girl. It is so much fun to watch her use her imagination when playing with her dolls. Since watching Toy Story this past summer, all she has wanted is a Jessie doll for her birthday. The morning of her birthday, I woke her up early and gave her the Jessie doll. It was love at first sight. She hasn't put Jessie down since. She even pretends to be Jessie and will only answer to Jessie. She is too cute.
Happy Birthday Kate, you are our favorite baby girl and we love you so much!!!

New School

Kate started going to a new school this week and so far I really like it. This one is actually a school and not a day care. The teacher student ratio is 1:9, which I love. She has Spanish everyday for 45 minutes along with computer lab, music and art. The only thing I don't like is they have to wear a uniform which consists of a blue shirt with khaki bottoms. Kate loves picking out her clothes for school and usually wears dresses everyday. She wasn't too thrilled when I showed her her new clothes for school but seeing the other boys and girls wearing the same thing made it better.

11 months

Brody turned 11 months on the 7th. It's hard to believe that in a month he will be off formula and in a front facing car seat. He is completely on table foods now. For breakfast he usually gets toast, pancakes, or a muffin. For lunch and dinner I cut up small pieces of chicken nuggets, fish sticks, hot dogs or a grilled cheeses sandwich plus I will give him fruits and vegetables.
He took a step on Saturday by himself but hasn't done it again. He has added "ball" to his vocabulary but says it more like "baw". Brody loves to play with balls and can throw them pretty well. With a name like Brody Burnett, he is destined to be a pro-athlete.
I usually take Brody's monthly pictures on the couch but these days he wont sit still, so I had to put him in the high chair and even then he wouldn't stay still.

Recall?!?

So, I guess I have been living under a rock because I had no idea Similac recalled their formula. I honestly don't watch the news. It seems like everything on the news is sad and horrible and I just don't want to know about it. Ignorance is bliss in some cases. Not so much in this case. I went online to the Similac website and put in the numbers on the 3 containers that I had. All of them had been recalled. I did this last night at 6:20, both kids had had their bath and were in the night clothes. Since Justin is out of town, I had to make a mad dash to the store with both of them. I ended up buying Enfamil and thankfully Brody drank it with no problem.

No, No!!

I am constantly saying those words to Brody. In the last 2 weeks, he has become all boy. He is becoming more of a dare devil-which scares me, he gets into everything and is just plain crazy. We have 2 staircase in our new house. One is by the front door and the other is by the kitchen. We put a gate on the kitchen one because we are always in the living room or kitchen. We have yet to put one on the other one because it has a wide opening and not sure if I can find one that fits plus we don't want to drill any holes in it. Brody LOVES the stairs!! When it gets quiet and he is not in eye site you can find him going towards the stairs. He waits near them until he sees us and then takes off towards them. Justin and I will say "Brody, no no" and shake our head. Brody then will shake his head and laugh. Its pretty funny and we try not to laugh in front of him.


Going grocery shopping has become crazy. We usually go first thing in the morning before it gets crowded and Brody would sit perfectly in the cart. Now, it is torture going. He is constantly trying to stand up-even with his strap on and starts throwing fits. I guess, I will have to wait for Justin to get home and then go.
The car seat has become the enemy. Just this past week he has started throwing fits when I put him in. It's not a quick fit either. One day he cried for 30 minutes while in it. I have no clue what is going on with my sweet, lovable baby boy.



About 6 weeks ago, Brody got a severe case of diaper rash. I couldn't figure out why he was pooping so much. He went from 1-2 dirty diapers a day to 6 or 7. He poor little hiney was raw, he screamed when I would wipe him. He refused to sit down in the tub and when I made him, I felt like the worst parent ever because it hurt him so bad. Several oatmeal baths and some stuff called Bag Balm(its used on cows utters-best stuff ever!)cured it. I finally figured out he was teething and soon he had 3 more teeth. I think we are about to go through the same thing again as his dirty diapers have increased and has had a snotty nose the last two days.

My little dare devil

Using his car to get on the fireplace

Super busy

We have been super busy the last two weeks. We are finally getting settled into our new house which is still a work in progress. Kate started attending a new school which I'm not too sure I love. I keep comparing her new school to her old one. I LOVE her old school, there were 8 students per class with a teacher AND an aide. It was very structured and I just felt comfortably leaving her everyday. Her new school can have up to 18 kids per class with just one teacher and a floater aide. When I drop her off in the morning, there are kids running everywhere and yelling and not to mention it seems like pee. The new school takes babies as young as 6 weeks old, her old school wouldn't take babies younger than 12 months. Everyday when I pick Kate up, I ask her if she likes school and she says yes which make me feel a little better about it. I am going to continue to look at other schools in hopes I can find one with smaller teacher-student ratio.
I just look at today's date and realized in 1 month I will have a FOUR year old. Bring on the tissues!!

10 Months

I know I say this every month but I cant believe how fast this year has gone. Brody is now 10 months and learning new things everyday. He now says, mama, dada and bye bye. He also claps, waves and will use sign language to say "more". Within the last couple of weeks, I started feeding him more table foods. He loves watermelon, cantaloupe, avocado, peaches, bananas and animal cookies. Three teeth have pushed through the last couple of weeks, which makes a total of 8 teeth. Brody hasn't started walking yet but we think he is close. He likes to walk with his car and will stand without help sometimes.

Swimming

Kate had her last swim lesson of the summer last week and I am amazed at how much she has learned. She can now swim underwater by herself and loves jumping off the edge of the pool and swimming to us. Justin and I decided we are going to keep her in swim lessons year round, instead of only in the summers.
Last Friday, I took Kate to see her new school and she loved it. She is is so excited to start. She will start, once we close on our new house in Katy, which should be a couple of weeks.

9 months

Brody is 9 months today! Oh, how time has flown by. I remember the first couple of months, when all I wanted to do is sleep longer than 3 hours at a time. Now, Brody is sleeping 12 hours at night, plus 2 naps during the day. He is such a mellow baby, he just goes with the flow. He added a new word to his vocabulary, "bye bye" and even waved when he said it. Brody loves Kate and follows her wherever she goes, he thinks she is just the funniest person.
Brody's 9 month measurements-
Weight-16lbs 14.7oz-5th percentile
Height-29in-75%
Head circ.-17 3/4inches-50%