Just Some Pictures

Here are some pictures I shared on Instagram, but wanted to share here too!

Brennan loves the iPad. Here is playing Temple Run, which he doesn't know how to play. Yet. He seems to think the goal is to make the man jump into the water because he gets all excited and claps his hands every time it makes a "splash". 

This picture is also from this past Saturday. It poured pretty much all morning and afternoon, so we didn't leave the house. Brennan didn't even get out of his pjs. I opened the basement door to let Ringo outside to potty and Brennan ran over and immediately said, "God made more rain!" We often talk about the different things God made. Shortly after this picture was taken, Brennan made a big mess by dumping Go Fish cards all over the basement floor. When I asked him to pick them up he said, "Mommy clean up." That wasn't an option, so I asked him, "Who made this mess, Brennan?" His response, "God!". So maybe he's a little confused. And he still had to clean up his mess.

Our church service was outside on Sunday. We've been worshipping outside at Bethel Park one Sunday each month. They set up a big tent so the kiddos are contained.

On Monday we went to the mall; one of B's favorite locations. Not sure why he likes it there so much except he just gets to walk around and ride in his stroller while people watching. Here he is sitting in one of the rides. We were able to talk to Dada while we were at the mall, so that made this trip especially exciting!

On Monday night we were able to FaceTime with Dada again. We talked to him during B's tubby time and then said goodnight. After that it was time for B's bedtime stories. I snapped this pic because I thought he looked so sweet with his head in my lap while I was reading. Usually he just sits beside me.

On Tuesday we went to the commissary and then the library. I checked out a new "Sid the Science Kid" DVD for Brennan. He got to watch it while he ate lunch. He was pretty excited!

Tickle Monster

Brennan loves being tickled and he loves wrestling. These aren't the clearest pictures since they were taken with my phone and he was moving around the whole time, but I love his smile.

Happy Sunday

via

Jesus and ABCs

I wanted to share two videos.

This first one is Brennan answering questions about Jesus dying on the cross. I started asking him these questions because when we are out driving, he can always recognize churches. I asked him one day how he knew a building was a church and he said, "Cross". I then asked him who died on the cross and taught him the answer to that question and the others. I wish the video was a little clearer. I know I can understand him way better than anyone else, but I think it's still super sweet.

This video I took just the other day. Brennan has been obsessed with letters for a long time. When he first learned them, he called many of them by their phonetic sounds. I wanted to catch him on video saying his letters now because they are so much clearer than they used to be. Unfortunately he leaves out "w" in this video, which is the hardest one for him to say.

Cooking for 1.5

Before Kyle left for deployment he asked me what I was going to do with my time on Tuesday and Thursday mornings when Brennan starts school. I told him one thing I would probably do was go to the commissary and get groceries for the week. His response, "How long could it possible take to buy cereal and nachos at the store?!?!"

I've been known not eat so great when Kyle is out to sea. When it was just me I would eat cereal for dinner some nights and make myself some nachos most other nights. But now it is different. I have to not only feed myself, but also Brennan and the little one growing inside of me.

I planned out our first week of meals before Kyle left and have now planned out our second week. I'm feeling pretty good about what I'm fixing and that we are eating at home when it might be easier to just go grab McDonald's each night. Pinterest has certainly helped me with my meal planning and I've been good about splitting up all my meat before freezing it, so I can just fix smaller portions and not have tons left over.

Here are few of our meals since Kyle's been away.

Garlic Cheddar Chicken - This was a new recipe and was soooo yummy! Brennan and I shared one chicken breast and it was the perfect amount. You bake the chicken and I also baked some parmesan zucchini.

Pepperoni Roll-ups - We've made these before with Dada and they've always been a big hit. I used the entire can of crescent rolls. Brennan ate 1 and I ate 3 for dinner and then we fixed the leftovers for lunch the next day. They were still super tasty warmed up and I'm very picky about my leftovers.

Crock-pot Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli - This was another new recipe. I picked it because Kyle hates broccoli, so it was the perfect time to test it out. It was super delish! It was supposed to be served over white rice, but it wasn't until I was ready to fix the broccoli and rice that I realized we didn't have any rice. So we just ate it this way and it worked just fine. I cooked my one chicken breast in the crock-pot all day and it worked great.

Taco Soup - A staple at our house. We love taco soup even in the summertime. It makes way too much for just the two of us because even after eating leftovers the next day, there was still a lot left. There are lots of different versions to the soup. I use ground beef, taco seasoning, ranch seasoning, can of corn, can of rotel, can of black beans, can of green chiles, and water.

Baked Penne - Again nothing fancy, but so tasty. There was just enough left over for me to fix this for my lunch today.

It's so nice that Brennan is able (and most of the time willing) to eat what I'm eating. That certainly makes dinner much easier. We have also taken advantage of eating dinner with friends when their Daddy's are working. The kids get to play and the Mommies get to talk! I'm hoping this week to have some people come join us for dinner.

We are staying pretty low key for our lunches and doing his usuals: mac and cheese, hot dogs, quesadillas, pb&j, and chicken nuggets.

Here are some of the dinners I have planned for next week!
-Shake n Bake
-Fettucini Alfredo
-Southwestern Stuffed Peppers
-Spinach, Feta, Mozzarella Roll-ups
-Velveeta Skillet

Mystic Seaport

Some friends of ours were kind enough to let us tag along with them this morning to the Mystic Seaport. Colchester 4th grade students take a field trip to the Seaport each year, so I've been a couple of times, but this was B's first visit. We arrived right at 9am (gotta start practicing getting up and ready for school) and had a wonderful time.

The Seaport is set up like an old maritime town. There are cute little old houses, churches, and shops to explore. There was wooden boats you can climb aboard and it's all right on the water. It's also just a great place to let kids get some of their energy out!

We started at the Joseph Conrad boat and since we were there right at the opening, Brennan and Justin got to the be the helpers at the "Dead Horse Ceremony". They helped sing and parade around this big sack horse, which was then raised up and tossed into the water.

We visited a couple of the little shops and went into a replica of the Brandt Point Lighthouse. Brennan really liked the video we watched in there for some reason. We then headed to the outdoor children's play area for snack and play time. They have three play boats the kids can climb on and the boys had fun climbing and playing.

Next we headed into the Children's Museum. This was where we spent the majority of our time. Brennan LOVED it! It was just an old house with puzzles, a play kitchen, wooden boat, and other pretend play items. It was so neat watching the boy interact in the kitchen.

We ended up spending three hours at the Seaport today and we barely saw any of it! If you're ever in Mystic, CT, I certainly recommend checking it out. Brennan and I will definitely be headed back there. Our local library has a free pass, so I think we will take advantage of that soon!

I wish I had more pictures to share, but we were so busy having fun, I barely took any.

Brennan's Big Boy Room

After I found out I was pregnant, Kyle and I started talking about keeping Brennan in his current room and making the guest room the nursery or making the guest room Brennan's new big boy room. When the discussion first began, Kyle was in school and we thought he was going to deploy a few days after graduation. Deployment isn't over until November and I was hesitant to change Brennan's room then because it seemed like a lot of changes at once; new room, new bed, new baby in January. However, all of sudden Kyle said he could have the guest room transformed into a big boy room before he left. I had never even considered that a possibility, but was on board with making the switch. We quickly decided on a comforter and paint color and were ready to get to work.

We had company in our guest room until July 10th. I drove Amanda and her girls back to the airport that afternoon and when I returned home, the queen bed had been taken apart and the entire trim was painted in the room. The rest of the room went pretty quickly and the best part? It's almost all handmade by Kyle. I don't think many kids can say that.

Kyle made Brennan's toy box over a year ago I think. We moved it from his nursery into his big boy room before the room was complete and he immediately began playing in his new room.

He built the bed himself and stained it to match the toy box. He used these plans and I love the way it turned out. After he built the bed, we ordered Brennan's new mattress because he was sleeping in a toddler bed. The box spring was on back order, so it took a little longer than we planned to get it delivered. We had the bed set up already though and Brennan would climb inside the frame and play or read books. It was super cute. The mattress arrived July 23rd and Brennan has been napping and sleeping in his new room ever since. He had no trouble transitioning at all.

During a visit to Pottery Barn Kids, we saw this shelving unit. We both liked it, but didn't care for the $300 price tag. Kyle decided he'd just build it himself. So he got to work and Brennan had shelves that matched too!

At some point during this time, we made a trip to IKEA to look for a new dresser for B. We found the one we wanted (Tarva), but once we went to the warehouse to grab it, we learned it was out of stock. We kept watching the website and once it was back in stock, Kyle drove back to IKEA to grab it. We left for Kentucky on July 27, so Kyle didn't work on it before our trip, but as soon as we got back, he stained it to match everything else. So even though he didn't build the dresser, he made it look good.

We don't have anything up on the walls yet and I'm not sure I'll get that done while Kyle is away, but so far I am loving Brennan's new big boy room.

Paint: Behr Paint and Primer in One - Sparrow
Duvet, Down Comforter, Sheets: Target
Throw Pillows: IKEA