Sunday, February 28, 2010

Quite a month!

This month, we've had two trips to the hospital with our babies. Natalie's was a couple of weeks ago when our pediatrician said "She's dehydrated and we need to admit her to the hospital." I wasn't really worried, knowing that getting her hooked up to an IV would solve that problem. I was very distressed about how sick she was though...she couldn't stop throwing up and she just kept looking up at me like "Mommy, why is this happening? Make it stop!" We cried together during the car ride. She stayed for two days and finally, after a week, got her appetite and ability to keep food down back.

Then, Saturday night, Cody woke up at 10:30 crying...screaming for us. He said his arm hurt and he was scratching like crazy. I lifted his shirt and his whole body was COVERED in hives. So many, that on his right side, under his arm and across his chest, it was just one, big, swollen mass. With the lights on, we could see that it was all over his face, arms, scalp, ears and down his legs. Now, this one, had me scared. We gave him Benadryl and after Papa Doc came to stay with Natalie, took him to the ER. This may have been over-kill, but we had no idea what had caused the reaction and worried what would happen if we did nothing and his breathing changed. So, we went and they gave him a steroid and sent us home. He woke up the next morning completely fine...and we still don't know what caused it.

Both of my babies are healthy now...PHEW!

Happily, we went to buy Cody's T-Ball gear this weekend. He got his first pair of cleats and batting gloves, a new (metal) t-ball bat, socks, pants and a bunch of practice balls. He is so happy! He wants to wear the gloves and cleats all the time. Jimmy told him that he was going to wear his shoes down, but how much damage can he really do at four years old?

Speaking of - CODY WILL BE FOUR THIS MONTH!! Wow! And let me tell you, if he only understood the concept, he'd be counting down the days. He has big plans for when he turns four - riding a motorcycle, skiing, snowboarding...every other sentence out of his mouth is "when I'm four...." Grandad freaked him out a bit the other day. He said something about Cody being four and Cody said "I'm not four. I'm three." I pointed out to Grandad, that Cody is obviously concerned that he may have missed the BIG DAY and assured him that he's not four - YET!

We've decided for his b-day to take him back to Great Wolf Lodge. He's been twice and talks about it all of the time. We were going to go sometime soon anyway, so decided that, instead of a party, we'd knock-out both birds. He doesn't know that he'll be going...we've decided to wait until the day we're going and give him a new swimsuit and a card telling him about the plans. He's going to be so excited and we can't wait!

Now, Miss Nattie - she's saying "Dada", "Ry-Ry" (Uncle Ryan), and shaking her head when we tell her no. We think she's also picked up "Hey" and she waves hello and goodbye. Oh! The best is when she blinks her eyes to show you her "pretty eyes" - taught by Nana - and dances every time she hears music. She's still giving me kisses - grabs my face with both of her hands and pulls me to her mouth - and she's started making a kissing sound. So sweet!

She loves food and smacks her mouth after every bite! She'll eat anything and we have to distract her to get her to stop eating. Still a big girl. At 9 months old, she's 28 1/2 inches and 22 pounds...still above the 90th percentile, but seeming to slow in her growth. Thank goodness, because she's been in 12 month clothing for 2 months already! We have a closet full of adorable summer outfits that will never have the tags even taken off! Boo!

Well, those are the highlights - lots to do coming up...hope we can get some sleep!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Sweetheart Angel Girl & Goofy Goober Boy


aka Nattie Bug and Cody Bear

Natalie is almost 8 months old and within the two weeks prior to Christmas she decided that she was tired of sitting around, so she learned how to: Sit up, Crawl, Pull-up, Walk along the furniture, Clap and Wave. She is now letting go and trying to balance herself. This only lasts seconds, but it seems that success in this arena happens quickly. We wonder if she'll be an early walker like her Aunt Lori and Grandad (both at 7 months). Cody walked at 11 months, so technically he walked early too, but she has even more motivation to get to wherever her big brother is! She definitely loves to go for assisted walks around the house.

She really is an angel and LOVES to cuddle and give kisses. She's given kisses since the day we left the hospital (seriously, I have a picture and she wasn't trying to suck my face off!) She will now grab my face and pull it to her mouth. It is the most slobbery, sweet thing ever!

Cody is getting WAY too big too. He's still a little guy compared to other kids his age, but seems to be so smart and wise. We can already see that he's going to be a challenge for us. He will live up to our dreams of him being smarter than us. He's been writing his name for a few months now and has tons of fun at his school two days a week and "Nana School" on Wednesdays. He knows all of his letters and numbers and Nana is now teaching him how to read. They're in the early stages of that, but he's definitely learning to recognize words. He got a LeapFrog Tag reader for Christmas and has really impressed us with all that he knows! The games on it are great for reading comprehension and word and letter recognition. (That's my little mom product plug.)

Everyone who meets him loves him - recently, one of his teachers told Jimmy that they love when he comes to her class because he'll go behind the other kids to clean up, saying that they didn't do it right. He can't stand for things to be put in the wrong place!

He's also ALL BOY! He still loves sports and usually won't wear anything but football jerseys. He likes talking about gross boy things and I've had to start telling him "Cody, we don't talk about those things." It's not a big deal except when he goes on and on....

Natalie and Cody love each other so much! Cody told me today that "For Christmas I prayed to God, Thank you for my baby sister." He loves buying clothes for her too...it's really hard to take him to a store because he just runs around grabbing clothes to show me! (He loves buying for himself as well - at least he's not selfish!) Natalie enjoys watching him play and when he gets close enough to her, she'll reach out to him for a hug. It is so sweet...she'll just lay her head on his chest and smile really big. Of course, Cody gets a kick out of her adoration.

So far, my babies are off to a great start! I know they'll have rough patches in their relationship, but I hope that we will always have a special family bond!

Oh yeah - and Jimmy and I are great too! Our 5 year anniversary is this week!! It's gone by so fast!

Friday, January 1, 2010

I still want a Hula Hoop!


It's over again. This is the saddest time of the year, isn't it? Luckily, I have TONS of photos and some great new cowboy boots to enjoy!

This Christmas was the first one that I've ever woken up in my own house. EVER. Seriously, we moved to Beaumont when I was a baby and went back to Abilene every year for Christmas. There were a couple of years that I was in Beaumont and couldn't leave, but I stayed with Jimmy's family then too so that I wouldn't be alone. Then, we moved to Dallas and started alternating Christmas between Abilene and Beaumont. This year, now that Jimmy's parents live up here, they decided to have Christmas in Dallas! God must have been happy about this too, 'cause he sent us SNOW! A White Christmas in Texas? Global warming, schmobal warming....


Natalie's first and Cody's fourth Christmas were pretty great. Cody even told me "It was the best Christmas ever!" Not sure where he heard that, but cool! Santa brought them a kitchen with lots of play food and pots and pans. Cody also got the Batman Cave and all of Batman's "friends" (you know, The Joker, Penguin, etc...his poker buds). Natalie got cute clothes and lots of things to chew on.


Jimmy and I decided not to exchange gifts this year...saving to pay off my car and our 5 year anniversary is coming up in a couple of weeks...we didn't miss the gifts at all! I thought it was funny on Christmas Eve, because I couldn't decide if it was better to be a kid waiting for Christmas or a Mommy. They felt the same to me! So great!


So, now, 2010 has begun. The only event we anticipate this year is Lori & Kyle's wedding in May and perhaps a ski trip with the Brady Bunch next Christmas. (Please, oh please???) I'm happy to have my beautiful family to spend time with and make me laugh. I pray that your new year is as blessed as I believe mine will be!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Talking and Tickling

Well, Natalie's 3 months old now...and she's changed so much! I'm really trying to cherish everything that's going on right now. Looking at how big our Cody is reminds me of how fast it goes. (It's okay if I say it...but I don't need anyone else reminding me.)

So, in this video, you'll hear me laugh at the beginning. Of course, she was talking up a storm and then, as soon as I turned on the camera, she couldn't take her eyes off of it. Does that mean anything? Am I seeing into her future?

She eventually went back to talking to her doll. And then she let me get her laughing on video too. She's already REALLY ticklish!

It's so great!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

2008 Complete!

I just finished up my 2008 photobook. Actually, when it comes in, I'll be adding stickers and captions to some of the pages, but at least all of the photos are in and it's on the way!

I love Blurb! I just realized that I can customize and create layouts...I think I'll be abandoning Picaboo...if I can figure out how to put in better backgrounds! Blurb is WAY cheaper!

Woohoo! Please take a look, if you'd like - WARNING! It's 156 pages....nevermind, you can only view the first 15 pages...UGH!

2008
By Cody - age 2

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

She's here!

Everyone knows this already, but Natalie Ellen Brady was born on May 21, 2009. She was 9 lbs 11 oz, born at 6:47am (c-section) and almost 21 inches long.

She's beautiful and Cody loves her so much! (He's going to be as annoying as his mommy about giving kisses...)

Here's a video I took yesterday. She's almost a month old!!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Cody is 3!!!

My baby boy turned three years old on March 30th! I can’t believe it!

We had his party on Saturday at a bounce house place and were so happy to have so many people there!

Cody at his 2nd Birthday!

Cody's 1st Birthday!

Cody's BIRTH day! (Well, less than 24 hours after he was born, at least.)