Quarterly Top 5 Photos

I mentioned in a previous post that I'd be linking up at the end of the month with my Top 5 Photos of Brennan for Jan-March. I have also mentioned before that I am far from a professional photographer. I only shoot on auto and just like to capture pictures of my son. I don't edit the photos at all either. You just get what you get. :)

You've seen these photos on the blog before, but I did go ahead and pic my top five.

I feel like since B turned one, I have been taking more candid shots of him playing, so I don't have as many shots of him with a super cute smile. Without further adieu, here are my top 5 (in no particular order)!

B's classic smile. I can't get enough of it!

I titled this pic "Eskimo Kiss" when I posted it before. 

Another one with the dog. B loves Ringo!

By far my favorite shot from his bday party!

Check out that hair. So happy B still loves bath time!

Now it's your turn. Head over to Amber's blog to link up and have a chance at winning some great prizes!

Cute Tot

Check it out! Brennan was selected as a Cute Tot on Totally Tots!

I have to say that I agree!

Tot School - 13 Months

We were back in the normal swing of things with Tot School this week after our trip the week before to VA. Check out some of the fun we had!

It is still too cold to play outside, so I decided to let Brennan play with water inside. I let him play with it in his highchair because we have to two cats and one dog who would like to play too. I am posting several pictures of him playing with the bubbles and water because I just love his expressions. It was such a classic example of cause and effect as he would drop items in and then look in the tub to find them.

He enjoyed playing with the water so much that I let him do it again the next day. I didn't sit right with him the second day, however, and he ended up dumping all the water out. I had towels on the floor, so it didn't make a huge mess, but did require him to change out of his pjs and get a new diaper. I can't wait for warmer weather so he can just make a huge mess with water outside!

Brennan received the Fisher Price Go Baby Go Sit to Stand Giraffe from his Auntie Lala. He loved the toy from the very beginning. At first he couldn't get the balls to go all the way into the giraffe's mouth by himself; it requires quite a bit of force. It didn't take him long to catch on though. I hadn't shared pictures of him playing with it yet, so I wanted to make sure to capture some this week.

Parker came over to play too. Brennan was actually really good about sharing his toy, but his face in this picture looks like he is protecting it and thinking, "Mine, all mine!"

Brennan's two favorite puzzles right now are both Melissa and Doug puzzles. He loves this shape puzzle and this pet sounds puzzle. He can put some of the pieces of both puzzles back in their correct spots now!

I saw this idea on another blog (sorry, I can't remember which one). Brennan loves his Leapfrog Fridge Phonics and this is a great way to make them portable. (Even though we were sitting right by the fridge, you get the idea!) I just used a round cake pan.

About two weeks ago, I bought some clothespins at the dollar store. I didn't have an exact use in mind for them, but knew I they could be used in lots of ways. Here are a few of the things we used them for this week.

He is checking out the clothespins and muffin tin.

He helped me put them in the holes.

He liked taking them out after I filled up each hole.

As usual, Ringo was close by to "help".

I also gave him an empty Puffs container. It was difficult putting

the clothespins in, but he was able to figure it out.

Studying the clothespin; it would only go in if it was vertical. 

Again, he liked taking them out.

I went ahead and gave him a 20oz. soda bottle. It was MUCH

too difficult for him to put them in himself, but he had fun.

I think he was hoping there was a little Coke left.

We have also been watching a PowerPoint presentation I created about numbers and counting. He LOVES it!

In fact, look how much he loves counting; when he pulls out his Mega Blocks now, he points to the pegs to "count" them! He is such a smart boy!

Hope you had fun with your tot this week too!

Friday's Fab Five

I almost forgot it was Friday! Silly me!

1. Brennan got his haircut! I spiked it up in these pictures after it got cut. It stood straight up since the stylist had put product in it. He looks CRAZY!

2. Brennan can basically eat what we eat now. He had chicken enchiladas with us on Monday night. He had pizza with us on Tuesday night. It's so fun to watch him eat big boy food and it's nice not to have to fix him something different. He is loving green beans right now too, so I am happy about that!

3. We had praise team practice last night! It has been cancelled a few times and I have missed a couple of weeks too, so it was nice to be back. We are even doing a new song on Sunday! Holla!


4. I took Brennan to the library today. We have been several times before, but today was the first time he enjoyed playing in the play area. It was a nice change of venue.

5. It's Spring! It may not feel like it in CT yet, but it does mean that warmer temperatures have to be around the corner. I cannot wait to play with Brennan outside with Spring!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Brennan's First Haircut

Brennan had his first haircut yesterday. It was getting a little long in the back and over his ears, so it was time to time it up. Plus, the teens at church say he has a comb over! So Ms. Lori tried to feather it a little on top too.

BEFORE:

You can see here how long it was over his ears.

AFTER: (He would only cooperate both times if he was holding the lens cap!)

Here are a few more I took on my phone. I shared these on Facebook, but I'll share them here too.

I couldn't get over how big he looked while waiting for his haircut!

These are all after the cut. He really like Ms. Lori!

The salon gave him a certificate!

He did a great job. He sat in my lap and wore a cape and just smiled and smiled. He was showing off some of his tricks for the ladies there. They just LOVED him!

Push and Scoot

Check out B's new trick! He can finally move in some way other than rolling! He can only go backwards and so far can only do it on the tile, but hey, it's a start!

Tot School - 13 Months

Tot School this past week was more like Life School as Carisa calls it. Brennan and I drove down to Williamsburg, VA. My friend Amanda C. and her son Parker went with us. The two boys were excellent travelers!

We stayed at our Wyndham timeshare and the accommodations were great! We had two adjoining units that each had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, and full kitchen. Amanda D. and her two daughters came from Chesapeake, VA on Monday to stay with us too. So we ended up with three mommies and four kiddos under age 2! It worked out great because the kids (other than baby Michaela) slept on one side of the unit and the mommies stayed on the other.

I said so many times during our four days there that all three of us are blessed with amazing kids! We are very lucky that we all have such good sleepers. What are the chances that all three babies would go down for naps and nighttime without a fuss at all?!?! Truly amazing!

Anyways...onto some pictures!

With little kiddos, you can't travel without toys! Brennan enjoyed playing with his Fisher Price Crawl Along Drum.

I love how you can see his hand in motion in this picture.

My handsome boy!

He also enjoyed playing with Adah's bowling pins.

And he liked to "read" the "newspaper" during breakfast!

I wish I had taken a lot more pictures of "learning" activities. But I was just too busy trying to capture some sweet memories!

Our room was right on a pond with a fountain. There were always ducks walking all around the grass. The kids loved watching from the door and going outside to chase the ducks.

Love this girl!

"Go outside, Rachel!"

Brennan and Adah hadn't seen each other since October!

They had a lot to catch up on!

Sorry it's blurry, but I still LOVE it!

Here are a few shots of wild man, Parker! He provided lots of entertainment for us!

We got up each morning and just relaxed in the room. Brennan still takes a morning nap, so once he woke up from that, we would all load up and go out to lunch and do a little running around (usually shopping). We then came home and all the kids took their afternoon naps. We'd sometimes go out for a little bit in the afternoon too. Amanda C. was our personal chef all week! She cooked us dinner at the condo, so we didn't have to eat two meals out with four kids each day!

This was spaghetti night, hence all the naked babies!

One afternoon we went to the Yankee Candle Flagship store. It was HUGE! It had tons of candles, a Christmas room, and a candy room just to name a few things. There was this show that played every 30 minutes or so and the kids were mesmerized! I mean have you even seen three kids all watching the same thing so intently?

We took advantage of the huge jacuzzi tub and bathed the three kids together!

iPhone photo, so the quality isn't as good. 

All in all it was a great trip with some great friends! It's such a blessing to know that no matter where the Navy takes all of us, we will always find time to meet up!