Check Out My Do

Brennan LOVES bath time!

Mommy LOVES making Brennan have crazy hairdos during bath time!

Daddy LOVES being called into the bathroom to take pictures of Brennan's crazy dos. (Right, honey?!)

Friday's Fab Five

Hope you've had a fabulous week!

1. B and I left on Sunday for Williamsburg, VA. We headed down there with Amanda and Parker. I was little nervous about traveling with two boys under age two, but they did awesome! We had a great trip and it was so nice to see Amanda, Adah, and Michaela! I will be posting more pictures and details from our trip on Sunday!

2. I bought Brennan's Easter outfit! I have been looking for the perfect one for a little while now and I'm so happy with the one I got. No pictures until Easter, though. Sorry.

3. I know (I use the word "know" loosely) so many people with happy baby news right now. This is a nice change, but I read a lot of blogs about parents who have lost babies. I am so happy that Hollis is here and is healthy! I think it's amazing that Megan is having twins! Abby just announced she is pregnant! And I have another friend whose sister-in-law is expecting! Yeah for baby-making! :)

4. Kyle is home early today and we are going out for lunch! Woohoo!

5. It is going to be 69 degrees here today! The warmer temps aren't here to stay for good, but I will take it when I can get it!


There ya have it! Short and sweet and oh so fabulous!

Tot School - 12 . 5 Months

I definitely felt a little less motivated this week. I didn't plan out any of the Tot School activities Brennan would be doing, so we just kind of went with the flow. The great thing, however, is that there is SO much learning that can take place as he just "plays" with his regular toys. 

With his Mega Blocks, we talked about colors and counted the number of pegs on the blocks. He especially likes to take apart the blocks.

This Leapfrog Fix and Learn Speedy is a great learning tool. You can practice opening and closing the hood. It teaches you shapes (circle, triangle, square, rectangle, and hexagon). It teaches you colors. It sings the ABCs and counts to 10! 

We also had an impromptu music class using the vent.

"Look, ma, no hands!"

Brennan and I made a trip to Kohl's. He received a gift certificate to there for his birthday. We came home with this Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Learning Piggy Bank. It's a great toy for him because it really requires him to work hard to get the coins in the slot. He has only managed to do it a few times, but I know it won't take him long to catch on. It counts up to 10 and sings some silly songs. It reviews the colors of the coins and each color has 2 coins; a big one and a small one. 

Brennan and Ringo are both longing for warmer days when we can all play outside! For now we just look.

We also made a trip this week to The Dollar Tree. I think this is my new favorite store. I am feeling ready to get some more Tot School planned now that I made some great purchases from the store! Here B is putting some squishy balls into a bug catcher!

Brennan and I are currently on the road to VA to visit some friends. I'll still link-up next week, but it will mainly consist of pictures from our trip! 

Dear Brennan,

My darling little boy, you are 13 months old! I kiss you and hug you so many times each day and ask you to please never get too old for my kisses and hugs! Sometimes I still try to cradle you like a baby, but unless you are super sleepy, you are getting too big for that. :( I guess you have to grow up!

You are still wearing 12-18 months clothes. At your one-year checkup, you were 22 pounds 8 ounces (40th percentile) and 29 inches (30th percentile). You are still wearing size 3 diapers during the day and size 4 overnight diapers at night. You don't really wear shoes yet since you aren't walking.

We have now started Tot School. So far it hasn't required much planning on my end. I just try to make sure you and I are interacting with your toys and that I am talking to you about colors, letters, and numbers. You are a very smart boy and it doesn't take you long at all to figure stuff out. You and I just made a trip to The Dollar Tree yesterday and bought some new things to use for Tot School. That place is a gold mine for containers that we'll be able to use!

You haven't become mobile yet. You are able to turn in a circle while seated, which is a new talent. You have learned to say "I don't know" with your hands. You turn both of them up and shrug your shoulders. It's super cute. You will do it when you put a ball into a toy and you can't see it anymore. Mommy still reads to you a ton each day. Sometimes I will finish and book and you'll immediately sign "more" so I'll read it again. This will go on about five or six times before we can move to a new book.

You are usually a good eater. You have a seventh tooth coming in (yep, you've gotten 3 in the past month) and I think that might be bothering you because you haven't eaten much the past few days.  It's so funny how kids go through stages with food. You used to eat an entire hotdog at a meal and now you won't even take a bite of one. You still LOVE pasta with sauce.  Mommy and daddy probably need to try and expand your palette a little.

You've added one new sign to your vocabulary: "fish", but I haven't really taught you any new ones other than that. You are saying "Momma" occasionally, which makes me very happy! You have also said "Adah" a few times. I'm also happy about that once since we will see her next week!

You are a whiny little guy for sure. You don't like to be away from Mommy or Daddy. You were doing so well during independent playtime and now you are back to crying during it. I have been trying to stick with it and it seems to be getting a little better again. You cry in the church nursery right now. I guess I should be flattered because you love me SO much! Oh and all of a sudden you hate to have your teeth brushed! You have always loved getting them brushed. That may have to do with you getting some new teeth too!

You're about to go on your longest car trip ever; 10 hours to Williamsburg, VA! Thankfully we are going with our friends Amanda and Parker, so they will keep us company.

I love you so so so much! Daddy and I are trying to cherish this time while you are still non-mobile because we know it won't last forever. Thanks for being such a sweet baby. I love your kisses and your laugh. XOXO!

Love,

Mommy

Brennan back at 12 months

Brennan today at 13 months

I'm not sure I am going to keep doing these giraffe photos every month, but decided to go ahead and do one today. 

Friday's Fab Five

Here's what's been happening around our neck of the woods:

1. Kyle and I got iPhones! We have been talking about it for a while now; trying to justify paying more each month for a data plan and this week decided to go ahead and do it. I really like my phone! I haven't even had a chance to sit down and explore all it can do, but I've played some games and even got to FaceTime with Amanda and Adah today!

2. You'll read about this in some upcoming posts, but I think The Dollar Tree is my new favorite store. Sure it's a little ghetto in there, but I love that everything really is only $1! Since starting Tot School with Brennan, I get to link-up and see all these great ideas parents are doing with their kiddos. The Dollar Tree is a great place to stock up on little things we can use for Tot School. What can I say, I'm cheap!

3. I got to go out on Wednesday night with some fabulous ladies. It's always nice to meet new Navy wives and we just sat around talking and laughing for hours. We all have kids, so we were sharing funny stories about them. Funny how when we get a night out without the kids, they are all we can talk about.

4. I am going to the eye doctor today. That is NOT fabulous. I do not like going. I don't like doing things I am not good at and I am not good at seeing. I always feel like I am failing a test when I go. But I need to get some more contacts and my prescription is expired, so it's a necessity. Amanda C. is fabulous for watching Brennan while I go!

5. Brennan and I leave for VA on Sunday! I am soooo excited! I.cant.wait! (That was for you, Laura!) Being out and laughing with the ladies on Wednesday night got me even more excited because I know Amanda, Amanda, and I are going to be laughing the entire time we are together.

Have a fabulous weekend, everyone!

B is 13 months today! Come back later for his update!

Top 5 Photos

Remember this post when I shared my top 10 photos of B from 2010? Well, Amber over at Amber's Articles has decided that a year is much too long to wait to do that again. So, she and some other phenomenal photographers are hosting a quarterly version of the link-up!

The link-up doesn't start until March 30th, but I just wanted to get the word out there in case anyone else wants to participate. The best part is, two participants will be randomly selected to win prizes. Check out Amber's blog for all the rules and what you could win!

Balloon Wreath

Check out the wreath I made!

I know it's a little crazy and bright, but I LOVE it! (Kyle says it's "fruity".) I am not quite ready to hang it up yet; I think I'll wait until it is a little warmer outside. It was super-dee-duper easy and fast to make.

I first read the tutorial from How Does She.

I then went and bought my supplies. I bought the straw wreath and greening pins at Michaels. I bought balloons at The Dollar Tree. Just as the tutorial recommended, I bought 100 greening pins and 150ish balloons, so I thought I was all set.

That is until I sat down to start making the wreath today and realized that I was going to need A LOT more supplies. Oops!!! At first I thought I bought a wreath that was too big, but now that it is finished, I think it looks the same size as the one from Missy's blog.  I certainly didn't have enough though. I used up my 100 greening pins before I had finished up all my balloons. At that point, my wreath was a little more than 1/2 covered with balloons. So I made a quick trip back out to pick up additional supplies.

With a wreath my size, I used a little less than 250 balloons and greening pins. The wreath is not covered completely, that would've taken forever and SO many balloons. I am very happy with how it turned out though.

I love Missy's idea of using it for birthdays. She puts the wreath out whenever someone in her family has a birthday coming up. If I was still teaching, I think it would be a cute thing to put on my classroom door when a student has a birthday. For now, I think it will be either my spring or summer wreath. Or if I can't wait to hang it up, my hurry up and get here spring wreath.