The Bucy Family

Color Run 2012

2012-01-28T22:44:00.015-07:00

My family participated in a 5K race at Tempe Beach Park today! Well, most of us walked it. My mom even got in on the action!!! Way to go! It was just over 3 miles... and what a beautiful day for it! I got a little extra workout pushing 60 pounds worth of kids up hills and through sand and grass...

Here's me and mom at the start!

We did this to support Sage. Her school sponsored a team in the Color Run. All proceeds from this run went to Cardon Children's Hospital, which is where she has spent quite a bit of time lately.

Here's Sage and the kids all squeaky clean before the race.

Tanner was ready to go with cool hair and everything!

Look at all that white! From what I understand, there were over 6000 people registered. It was packed.

My mother in law, sister in law and her husband at the start...

Check out this guy... he was wearing a pink bikini while running! There were some CRAZY outfits there.

This was the first color station. They had them set up at every 1K marker, each a different color. Brooklyn was freaking out about getting paint on her so I brought a sheet to cover the stroller. Besides, I didn't want paint all over my stroller. Too bad the sheet didn't help much and I had to clean it anyway :)

Trenton with a cheesy grin showing off his paint. He didn't seem to mind getting colored!

This is what we looked like when we finished!

Kurt's mom, sister and brother in law... "After" shot! I love it!

And just for the record... Grandma and the Pregnant Chick did NOT finish last! We weren't fast or anything... but we didn't come in last! We rock!!!

Check out my mom... This is a good look for her! :)

Sage all colored out!

Sage and Trenton having fun...

This boy was such a mess! He looks like an orphan! You should have seen the bathtub when he and Brooklyn were finished! The water was completely purple.

Everybody had such a good time! This wasn't my first 5K, but it was a first with messy paint! We just might have to participate in this one again next year. It was so much fun! Thanks again to everyone who came out to support Sage's team!!!

Slow Month...

2012-01-22T18:40:00.007-07:00

After being so busy over the holidays, things have kind of slowed down a bit this month. That's quite alright with me though! We've been spending a lot of time outside since it's been so beautiful.

Here's Brooklyn and Bailee. She LOVES to help walk Bailee. And Bailee is such a good sport to cooperate :)

Trenton had wanted to play in the backyard one afternoon this week and I told him he didn't have any shoes on so he walked around the house saying "shoes shoes" and found one of them. He was trying to put it on by himself. Sorry buddy, you're not quite that coordinated yet. Mommy helped him out though so he could go play!

We visited Tanner and he showed us his cool new sled. These three had to test it out to make sure it worked good. They were getting in some practice so they'll know just what to do when we head to CO for our winter vacation!

Trenton's hair grows just as fast as his Daddy's. Auntie Heidi said he needed a trim to take care of the hair growing over his ears :) He didn't sit very still last time and ended up really crooked, so we figured out the trick this time around... a lollipop. He could care less what was going on with scissors and clippers once he had that candy! Look how handsome he is!

Brooklyn's battle wound of the week. Good thing we weren't planning pictures any time soon. This one is a doozy! And if you ask her what happened, she'll tell you the truth... "I got an owie on my nose when I was jumping on my bed."

Hmmm, I wonder why Mommy is always telling her no jumping on the bed!

This was at one of our trips to the park. Trenton makes me laugh. He wants to do everything by himself now. He climbs up the stairs, over the bridge and down the slide... then does it all over again. Of course once I had the video going he was a little shy with the slide, but oh well... you get the idea. He is getting so big!

Silly Kids...

2012-01-14T02:56:00.012-07:00

These first few pictures were actually taken a couple weeks ago, I just never got around to posting them. I peeked in on Brooklyn one night and she was wearing a snow hat. I guess to keep her warm? Who knows! She looks like she's about to fall out of bed too :)

This was during nap time. I had gone in to wake her up because it was getting too late. She wasn't in her bed and all I saw was this big blob on the floor.

I lifted up the edge of the comforter and found her completely passed out sleeping in her baby doll's play pen. I don't even know how she fits in that thing. It can't be comfortable!

Love the startled look on her face when I woke her. She is such a goof ball...

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches sure make for a messy lunch! But, Mmmm, so tasty!

Trenton has been feeding himself for quite a while now, but I still liked helping him with the messy stuff... yogurt, applesauce, etc. Well, he's decided that he's too big for Mommy's help and will only do it himself. He sure makes a mess. We usually have to change shirts when he's done!

What does it mean when the toy bin is empty?

It means the kids are having fun! :) Nothing like making a big pile of toys to play in! I've been sick this week so we haven't really left the house much. The kids have gotten in lots of Disney movies and toy time.

Had to throw this one in... She looks so serious when she talks on the phone. Grandpa had called to see what she was doing.

And I haven't had a belly pic in a while so had to throw one of those in...

26 weeks already!

I can't believe I only have 13 weeks left. This pregnancy sure is flying by. I really don't have any complaints either. It's been easy like the other two! I'm starting to hit the uncomfortable phase at night and don't get as much sleep as I'd like, but hey... I look at that as God's way of preparing me for having an infant in the house again :)

Great Day For A Hike

2012-01-05T13:00:00.010-07:00

My dad called this morning and was in the mood to go for a hike. Boy was that a good idea. We had so much fun!

Trenton got all loaded up in the backpack. He was riding in style! (and with his weight and the pack, it added at least 40 pounds to Kurt's hike). That's a good way to get him in shape!

We went to Silly Mountain out by our house. It's been a while since I've hiked. We usually go to the top peak, but with the kids along, we just went to the lower one and back. It was still a great workout!

Brooklyn walking up like a big girl with Grandpa.

When her little legs needed a break... this was how she traveled. She likes Grandpa's shoulders. Now all 3 of us got to carry a kid up the mountain... Kurt with Trenton, Grandpa with Brooklyn, and me with Little One :)

Taking a little rest! She sure is cute!

This is my favorite picture from the day! Look at that smile. Do you think he was having fun or what?

Grandpa brought us Subway for lunch and we had a picnic in the rocks. Brooklyn looked around and said we could see EVERYTHING from way up here. She was right... We could even see Phoenix!

Had to get a family picture. And proof that a pregnant girl can make it on the hike too! :)

We're going to have to do that more often. It's a great way to get in some exercise while having fun at the same time! And the kids are getting to an age where they had a blast too!

2011-12-30T22:04:00.028-07:00

Better late than never... Here was our Christmas~

Having a big family means the holidays are always a busy time of year... But I love every minute of it!

We celebrated at my parents' house on Christmas Eve.

The kids by mom's pretty tree (and a whole room full of presents)!

We had a nice dinner. This was the kids table. Trenton thought he was pretty cool because my mom lowered her high chair so he was at the same level as the other two. And don't ask what kind of face my daughter is making... She's a goofball.

Of course, my mom had a package under the tree for Baby Bucy. Tanner asked how the baby was supposed to open it... Hmmm, good question. Maybe with a little help from mommy. Can't go wrong with a mega huge case of diapers!!!

Trenton was actually getting into opening his own presents this year as well.

Brooklyn had one from Auntie Heidi and Uncle Andy that was bigger than she was. And it was wrapped in Dora paper. How cool!

Auntie Heidi also had one for Trenton that was bigger than him. His was wrapped in Cars paper. Whoah!

The big present was a basketball hoop, but Trenton thought it was more appropriate to use the box as a slide instead. Hmm, maybe we shouldn't have wasted money on presents and just given him a bunch of old boxes to play with... :)

This was Christmas morning at our house when the kids woke up. They had to check out the presents under the tree and their stockings.

Here Daddy, this one is for you!

Totally getting the hang of this unwrapping thing now!

We spent Christmas morning with Kurt's mom, sister and her husband and had a delicious breakfast. Here was Kurt's mom's beautiful tree...

Our happy family!

My handsome boy!

The kids checking out Brooklyn's new doll house. And yes, boys can play with doll houses if they want :)

Trenton got his first Harley. Watch out!

Kurt's mom seems pretty certain that Baby Bucy is going to be a girl and had this pink dress under the tree. Hmmm, what will we do with this if the baby turns out to be a boy? :)

After breakfast and presents, we headed over to my Grandma's for lunch with my family. Trenton was already worn out. Can you tell? When we got there, he had a complete melt down so had to go take a nap.

More delicious food, great conversations with family, and more presents for the kids at Grandma's house...

Brooklyn actually fell asleep on the way home after a very long day. She rarely sleeps in the car. We sure wore her out! She didn't even wake up when we unloaded...

Since we had unloaded all the packages on the kitchen table, the kids got to have dinner at their picnic table and watch Veggie Tales Little Drummer Boy. They thought that was a pretty neat treat.

The aftermath... Boy are these kids spoiled. The fun part was finding a place to put all this stuff away. We need a bigger house :)

The day after Christmas we celebrated with Kurt's dad, step mom and his sister and her husband. We had a yummy lunch at our house. And yes, the kids got even more presents to open!

I think they could really get used to this!

Then later that night we went to dinner and exchanged gifts with one of my best friends and her family. Busy Busy Busy!!!!!!

We are so blessed to have so many loved ones in our life. Although we had a great time celebrating with everyone, it sure was nice to have things calm down a bit this week and get back on our daily schedule.

We hope everyone else had a very Merry Christmas like we did :)

Christmas Preparation

2011-12-30T21:30:00.014-07:00

It was a very busy week. For whatever reason, we waited until the week of Christmas to go to Bass Pro Shops to see Santa. Bad idea! I figured since it was on a Wednesday, it wouldn't be so crowded since everyone was at work. Wrong! It was a 3.5 hour wait. So we just waived to him instead.

Brooklyn rode a moose on the carousel.

Trenton rode the reindeer. How fun!

Looking through the scopes with Daddy.

I want one of these for Christmas Mommy!

We spent an afternoon at my Grandma's decorating sugar cookies. My uncle and cousin kept the kids busy so we could get some work done :)

Brooklyn used her strong muscles to pull her brother.

Then of course Trenton had to take a turn at pulling too!

Brooklyn and Tanner decorating their own cookies.

The finished product :)

Then the next day Brooklyn had to make cookies for Santa. She was such a good helper!

This little guy thought he needed to climb up and help too! I think he just wanted to eat them!

Mmmm, oatmeal chocolate chunk! Delicious!

Sage was in the hospital over Christmas so we visited on Christmas Eve and took her some presents right before she went in for surgery. While we were there, the AZ DPS officers were handing out mini pillow pets to all the patients. Brooklyn was in the right place at the right time and got her own too! She named him Hogi.

Sad Day... Bye Bye Dump Truck

2011-12-13T23:22:00.004-07:00

Today is a sad day in the Bucy house... Dump truck has bit the dust! We knew it was coming, unfortunately Trenton did not... He was a bit confused when the steering wheel cracked all the way off.

He wanted me to fix it. Sorry buddy. I guess this truck has been through too many races and wheelies. I snuck it out to the garbage, but he knows it's missing and walks around looking for it.

Racing last week. I guess there won't be any more races any time soon... And he was getting really good at it too! This boy loves to drive!

The bad part is... now there are two kids and only one car to race. I see many fights in our future. Hmmm, I guess they'll just have to get better at sharing. I won't hold my breath :)

Zoolights!!!!

2011-12-07T21:56:00.026-07:00

We went to Zoolights tonight with my mom, grandma and a couple cousins. We had such a good time! Kurt and the kids have never been there, and it's been about 7 years since I've gone. It was a fun night!

My happy family by the penguins!

These kids rode in style, and all bundled up!

I loved this pretty blue tree!

This little dude sure had fun! I was hoping he would since it was after bedtime :)

The elephants were cute!

Kurt and I

With the kids... I love Brooklyn's face in this one. She was squealing one of her happy squeals. She was having fun too!

My grandma and two of my cousins by the orangutan.

So pretty!

I had to include the zebras. When we first pulled into the parking lot, Brooklyn asked if we were at the zoo. I told her yes. Then she said, "Oh, OK, I want to ride the zebras." Hmmm, I don't think so dear.

I wasn't expecting to see any live animals, but the zebras were checking us out!

Scary spider (as Brooklyn would say).

And what is a trip to Zoolights without a rhino's behind? :)

My cousin, Kyle, with the Pillsbury dough boy.

My cousin, Katelyn, with the jackrabbits (because she's a Mesa High Jackrabbit) Go purple and gold :)

Our whole group.... I don't think they realized I was taking their picture while they were shoving their mouths with kettle corn. Oops... Don't worry, I was doing the same thing behind the camera!

The talking giraffe. Kids thought he was pretty cool.

More giraffes...

Kids looking at the peacock.

More pretty lights.

Some bear cubs...

And we're on our way out...

What a fun way to spend the evening. Sure makes my lights at home seem like nothing now! :)

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

2011-12-04T22:17:00.012-07:00

I usually like to do all the Christmas decorating the day after Thanksgiving, but with me being pregnant this year, I'm exhausted so it was spread out over the week instead!

Our outside lights... They've been up for a week now and the kids just LOVE them!

Umm, we have a candy cane thief in the house! Busted!!! I didn't put as many ornaments on the tree this year because I wasn't sure if Trenton would keep his hands to himself. So far, he's doing pretty good! These candy canes were just too irresistible though :)

He LOVES the tree. His eyes sparkle as soon as he comes downstairs in the morning. He says hi to the ornaments at his level. And he picked up a new word too... I keep telling him "no touch" when he gets too close to the ornaments and every time he turns to me and says "peez" (for please). It's so cute!

For 3 days straight, Brooklyn told me we needed bells on the tree and we forgot to put bells on the tree. I don't know where she got the idea that trees need bells, but she wouldn't drop it, so I bought her some bells.

Both of them like to take the bells off the tree and jingle them and dance. They crack me up!

The finished tree. I love this time of year.

Brooklyn got in the decorating mood with me and even decorated the dog! I guess Bailee needed a little bit of Dora :)

I had to do a little rearranging to make room for the tree. Trenton doesn't care where the toys end up... He just likes to have FUN!

Kids playing outside while I was decorating inside. It was a good day for bubbles!

Hmm, I think I'll drive a train on the roof of the manger. Sounds like a good idea to me...

The stockings are hung!

Brooklyn is really getting into Christmas this year too. She loves all the decorations around the house and asks me every day if it's Christmas yet. So cute!

Dear Baby Bucy...

2011-11-30T15:44:00.008-07:00

Dear Little One,

I have no idea if you are a boy or a girl. I do not know what your name is going to be. I do not know if you will look more like Mommy or Daddy. I have no idea what kind of personality you will have. But I do know one thing for sure... You are already loved so very much!!! Keep growing strong. I cannot wait to meet you in April!

Love,

Mommy

Ultrasound = 20 weeks
(profile of the face)

We had our normal ultrasound at 18 weeks, but the baby was measuring a tad small so they couldn't get a good enough look at the heart and other organs so we had to go back for another. The baby has grown and everything looks great!

All curled up...

Cute little feet...

Straight on look at the face...

The tech kept referring to it as my little upside down baby because it did not want to move from this position (upside down, sitting on its head with butt in the air and knees curled into face). Too funny!

I was somewhat dreading having another ultrasound because it was torture last time taking a look in there and not finding out if it's a boy or a girl. It wasn't so hard this time around because the baby wasn't cooperating. I didn't even have to close my eyes because he/she kept the legs crossed and didn't give us a look anyway.

It is what it is, and so far it appears to be a healthy baby... We shall find out the rest of the details in April :)

Brooklyn's Birthday Party

2011-11-26T20:50:00.017-07:00

We had Brooklyn's birthday party last weekend, I'm just a little late in getting the pictures up. Thanks so much to my Uncle Don for taking pictures! It's so nice not to have to worry about my camera when I'm making sure kids are having fun, people are being fed and whatnot.

Here's the birthday girl looking cute!

Bailee keeping track of the kids in the backyard.

I tried to scale things back a bit this year, but we still ended up with 40 people at our house. I have a big family, what can I say? The weather was perfect so at least they were able to be inside and out back.

Look, I can wink!

I made tacos to go with her Dora fiesta theme. They must have been a hit because this was the first party where there were no leftovers!

Trenton enjoying some lunch.

Waiting for my friends to come play a game with me.

Tanner playing the game.

Present time!

Mmm, birthday cake! She picked it out all by herself this year and was so excited!

I love cake!

Grandpa spoiling the kids with candy after Mommy said no more sugar for the night! I guess that's what grandparents are for... Trenton seemed to be enjoying his lollipop!

Mommy and Daddy got Brooklyn a new scooter, but brother seemed to think it was for him. I'm going to have to watch this boy. He's going to crack his head!

She tied balloons to the scooter and had to test it out in the house first!

I think she was talking to Grandma on her phone after the party.

Brooklyn had a great time celebrating her birthday with friends and family. I cannot believe how big she is and how fast she is growing up.

Portrait Time

2011-11-23T10:49:00.007-07:00

We got a jump start on our holiday pictures this year. It seems like I'm always sneaking them in last minute so it feels good to have them done and out of the way.

I wasn't sure how Trenton was going to do. He is such a momma's boy and really didn't want to cooperate, but the photographer did a great job and got some good shots.

Our two beautiful kiddos.... Aw, they love each other!

Brooklyn - 3 years old - She is such a ham!

Trenton - 15 months - He is our handsome little man!

You cannot help but smile when you look at this one. Brooklyn is all giggly and Trenton has the cutest little expression/smirk on his face. This really does show their personalities!!! I love these kids!

Brooklyn and her "sassy" pose. What a doll!

What a stud! Look at those big blue eyes!

These are only a few of what they took. Once again, it was really hard to choose which ones to print. I love when we have that problem... It's much better than cranky pictures to choose from. :)

Happy 3rd Birthday Brooklyn!

2011-11-17T20:12:00.007-07:00

November 17, 2008... A magical day I will never forget... It was on this day I became a MOMMY!

Brooklyn Renee. She was beautiful, healthy, and just what I always wanted :) It was love at first sight!

Within the first few days at home.

Even though she was a big baby, she looks so tiny here!

November 2009 - 1 year old... Walking, starting to talk all the time... still cute as can be!

November 2010 - 2 years old... Finally growing enough hair to do pretty ponytails, finding a personality of her own... and she's now a BIG SISTER!

November 2011... 3 years old. My how she has changed. She's smart, sassy and a whole lot of fun. She even has her own sense of style... This was not the outfit she went upstairs in... she came down from her nap in jammies that don't fit and a snow hat because she said she needed to stay warm.

Brooklyn had a great birthday today. She woke up so excited. She was all smiles and giggles. We went to the park and played for a while then she watched a movie with Daddy while I shopped for her party. I asked her what she would like for her special birthday dinner. She thought and thought then told me cheese crisp. Wow, that was easy on me! And she LOVED it.

I made a batch of brownies from scratch and that was her special birthday treat after dinner. Mmmmm, chocolate!

She can't wait for her Dora birthday party when we celebrate with friends/family this weekend.

Happy Birthday baby girl. You will always hold a special place in my heart. You have brought me many blessings and I can't wait to see what the future holds. I love you Brooklyn!

Baby Bucy #3 - 18 weeks

2011-11-16T11:38:00.007-07:00

We had our 18 week ultrasound today... Baby is looking good. We have officially decided to NOT find out the gender until he/she is born. I didn't think I could go through with it, but Kurt really wanted to and talked me into it. Although it was a rough appointment to get through, I think it will be exciting to go through this pregnancy not knowing.

Here is the face:

Spine:

Arms and legs all curled up:

Hands curled up in front of the face:

My 18 week belly:

I think what changed my mind to agree with not finding out was the idea of how much more special the actual birth day will be. This will add a little extra excitement to the day with just Kurt and I knowing for the first few minutes, then spreading the news to those in the waiting room, then to the rest of our friends/family...

We already have boy and girl clothes and we're out of bedrooms, so no matter what the baby is, it will go in Trenton's room and Trenton will have to share with Brooklyn for the first year or so...

I still can't believe we didn't find out! Oh boy! 5 more months of anticipation!!!!! :)

Just Another Week...

2011-11-13T20:39:00.007-07:00

We haven't really been up to much, but I still wanted to keep up with my weekly posts! Kurt has been pretty sick so the kids and I have been trying to keep busy on our own. We walked to the park almost every day this week, but I don't really take my camera anymore. I have a gazillion pictures of them from that same park. It gives us something to do.... I get a good walk, kids get their energy out playing and Bailee has fun too!

I pulled the picnic table out and we had several picnic lunches in the backyard. Both kids think that's pretty neat.

And notice Bailee doesn't go too far from them. She's hoping they'll drop her a bite too. Silly dog!

Trenton kicking back in his chair. This kid is so laid back. He always makes me smile.

Giving Brooklyn's baby doll a hug. He is such a sweetheart. I guess he's getting prepared to be a big brother!

Since it's cooled off at night, I pulled out his winter jammies. He figured out the zipper really quick and won't leave them on.

I was out the other night so Kurt tucked the kids in bed. I peeked in to check on them when I got home and this is how I found Brooklyn. She pulled all the toys out of her toy box and made it all cozy. She was totally passed out and slept there the whole night!

Kurt said this will solve our sleeping arrangement problem when the baby comes. Trenton can have Brooklyn's bed and Brooklyn can sleep in the toy box. OK, that won't really work... but hey, it sounded good. :)

Mealtime Madness

2011-11-07T21:40:00.008-07:00

I don't know about you, but I love baby mealtime pictures... These kids are so cute and funny.

Trenton is a good eater for the most part but when he finds something he doesn't like, he has to get rid of it as soon as possible. This particular dinner was noodles, meat and veggies... I thought it was good... Apparently he didn't think so. If you look close, you'll notice noodles on his head, on the wall, on the blinds, and it was even on the floor and dining chairs. He flung it everywhere! LOL

Cracks me up... whatever was on his plate this time was so good he had to lick it when he was done!

This kid will eat twice as much per sitting if he has a fork to use.

He definitely knows where to find his mouth!

Yep, pretty tasty! This happy boy loves to eat!

I know this picture doesn't fit my theme, but I had to throw it in. Brooklyn's new favorite chore is to brush Bailee. She does a pretty dang good job of it too!

Happy Halloween 2011

2011-11-03T19:55:00.017-07:00

Carving pumpkins. Brooklyn helped with the "guts" for a minute, and only when using a spoon. She didn't want to get her hands dirty :)

The finished products. I asked her what she wanted me to carve on hers and she said a "Brooklyn face". How did I do?

Feeling the insides...

I went in the house to put things away and when I came back out to check on the kids, Trenton was eating the top of his pumpkin. It must have tasted good. He took a couple chunks out!

We thought it would be fun to dress up as a family again. This years' theme... Wizard of Oz.
The costumes turned out great and we got a ton of compliments when we took the kids trick or treating.

We went to my brother's house this year, along with my parents, Grandma, and Kurt's mom and sister and my sister in law's family. It's so much more fun to spend the holiday with family and friends instead of home alone.

We had the cutest little Dorothy and the most handsome little Cowardly Lion!

My nephew, Tanner was a Zombie this year.

Here's my niece, Sage, with Trenton. She was a flapper girl.

My brother's dog was even dressed up. Shelby was a banana split! So cute!

Yep, this girl has a different candy in each hand and something else in her mouth. She was living it up!

And of course Trenton was hanging out with his buddy, Grandpa. (Or as he calls him... Bampa). Grandpa was giving him chocolate!

Riding Tanner's scooter at the end of the night.

Looking through the binoculars. This boy had a fun night for sure!

We had yet another great Halloween. And next year we'll be adding one more to the bunch!

Colorado in the Fall.... Beautiful

2011-11-01T21:01:00.029-07:00

This was my first trip to CO in the Fall... and WOW, it was so unbelievably beautiful! We sure don't have colors like these at home. I was in love!

Brooklyn and my Dad visiting the horses at the neighbors. The baby on the left is Yankee who was born in July! Brooklyn loves him.

Brooklyn feeding the horses some hay.

Brooklyn and Grandpa by the neighbor's pond.

We spent an afternoon at the park. It was such a beautiful day and the kids had a blast.

Trenton was all over the place!

Brooklyn having fun on the slide.

Grandpa and Trenton. These two bonded while we were there. My dad was gone half the time hunting so Trenton was surrounded by women. He sure took to my dad when he came back.

Brooklyn and Bailee off running. My parents have about 5 acres of land and none of it is fenced in so kids and dogs have plenty of room to roam.

Siblings bonding over some bubbles. My Grandma thought it was so cute because Trenton ran around all day saying "Bubble, Bubble" when they were done. He was having fun!

Brooklyn looked up and told me she saw a shooting star. Haha... it was an airplane :)

One day she ran into the house and told my mom she needed seeds to plant in her garden. My mom handed her some carrots.

So, she planted carrots in the rocks.

She had forgotten where they were the next day so my Grandma helped her dig around until they found them! Silly girls!

We took Grandma for a ride on the Ranger and went around the back of one of the lakes.

Again, I was in awe of all the colors. So pretty!

Me and the kids in the back of the Ranger.

Trenton was real quiet and when I looked down, I noticed he was totally passed out!

But when we got home, he was ready for round two and off running again. This was his first trip to CO since he's been walking so I was wondering how he'd do with all the rocks and hills, etc. He was a champ. He was actually running and climbing and having a great time. When he'd fall, he'd just rub the dirt on his shirt and get back up!

We were having breakfast one morning and my Grandma looked out the window and saw a group of deer in our meadow. How cool is that?

Trenton's new trick. He wants to be big so bad like sister. He kept climbing up on the step stool to wash his hands or get a drink out of a little cup... And I kept laughing, he'd check himself out in the mirror, wave his hands and say "hi". I wonder who he thought was there!

Warming up with Grandpa after a cold ride on the quad.

He's just so cute. I can't get enough of him. Napping in the play pen. I do have to say, I was glad to come home and get him back on his normal schedule. He didn't sleep and nap for as many hours a day as he does at home. Too many distractions I guess.

The kids and I got sick the 2nd week on vacation. Not fun at all. And the weather got a lot colder and rainy so I wouldn't let the sick kids outside as much... Trenton was feeling cooped up and just stared out the windows longing to go out!

We had a great 12 days away. The only thing that would have made it better would be having Kurt with us. He was out of vacation time, but since I still have a few weeks remaining, we went on our own ;) That was the longest time the kids were away from their Daddy. They sure were happy to see him when we got home! And I was so proud of them... it's a 7-8 hour drive each way, depending on traffic and how many stops we make... and these kids did amazing! They only had about 10 min of fussy time each way. It would have been a LONG drive if they didn't cooperate so well. I have the best kiddos!

Colorado Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-29T21:26:00.017-07:00

I had wanted to take the kids to a pumpkin patch this year, but didn't think we were going to have time since we've been in CO the past 2 weeks.... Well, my Grandma read an ad in the CO newspaper for their pumpkin patch so we went and checked it out!

It was the coolest thing! It was a real pumpkin patch where you picked the pumpkins you wanted right off the vine! There were pumpkins everywhere! We had so much fun!

Here's me and the kids...

I absolutely LOVE this picture of Brooklyn. She was climbing on a 98 pound pumpkin.

And there's my happy boy!

Hmm, so many to choose from. Let's just check them all out.

Four generations... Too bad Brooklyn wasn't looking at the camera. Oh well.

She liked this one!

As I was taking her picture, she did this and said "Take a picture of my silly face" so this is what you get.... Yep, that sure is one silly face Brooklyn.

Trenton liked this one.

He was tripping a little because the ground was so uneven. His hands landed right in some stickers when he fell. I love his face on this one trying to clean his hands.

Brooklyn using her strong muscles to pick her pumpkin. Although they liked the big ones, we ended up picking smaller ones to make sure there was room to take them home with us.

Trenton checking out the 98 pounder...

Love him!

I am so glad the kids got to experience the pumpkin patch. I know they have them at home, but this was just so neat to be able to walk through the field right where they grow! We had such a great time.

Brooklyn's Behavior Chart

2011-10-28T20:57:00.005-07:00

A few people have asked me about this recently, so I thought I'd just post it... We started a behavior chart for Brooklyn in September. She really is a good kid, but like any other 2 year old she was starting to test her limits and was beginning some bad habits that we wanted to nip in the bud (like having temper tantrums when she didn't want to leave, throwing a fit at bedtime, not listening all the time, etc.) Negative reinforcement was NOT doing the trick so we decided to go about it in a positive manner and bought this board to hang outside her room. We listed out 10 things we'd like her to accomplish each day and if she does it, she gets a sticker for each.

All items are reasonable and things that she can accomplish if she chooses. Before bed each night, we fill out the chart. It has become such a habit that she reminds me if I forget. We go over every item individually and she'll tell me if she's earned the star or not. If she hasn't earned it, she'll say "No, I'm sorry" and apologize for whatever it was and then we'll just talk about trying really hard the next day to earn it. If she has earned it, she gets a huge smile on her face and dances around.

When she gets all 10 stars in a day, she gets a special prize... a new puzzle, coloring book, game etc. This makes her very happy and I really do think she understands that she's earned it. Obviously she doesn't get all 10 things every day, so we count up everything she's earned for the week and she gets little prizes for that too...

Here she is with a new coloring book!

We have seen a tremendous improvement in her behavior! This tactic works well for her. When Trenton gets older, he'll have his own list too :)

Loving the Weather!

2011-10-09T20:39:00.012-07:00

This is the time of year all us Arizonans look forward to. It means we get to spend MUCH more time outside because the weather is beautiful.

Thursday I took the kids for a walk with the intention of ending up at the park. We were almost there (about a mile away from the house) and it started pouring so we had to turn around. I ran as fast as I could to get us home and dry. Every time I'd slow down to catch my breath, Brooklyn would yell "Rapido Mommy, Rapido." She's my Miss Priss and was upset because her hair was wet, her legs were wet, her cup was wet, etc. Trenton didn't even make a peep, just looked up at me like "Hey, what's going on here?"

So, Friday there was not a cloud in the sky so we decided to try it again.

This is how the kids like to "walk" Bailee. Her leash is hooked onto the handle of the stroller, but they both feel the need to hold onto it the entire time.

We made it to the park! Yeay! Brooklyn wanted to play on the monkey bars and asked if I could lift her. She said she had big muscles to hold on tight.

I absolutely LOVE her face on this one. She's concentrating so hard and doesn't want to let go. She really does have strong muscles :)

We have done some type of activity outdoors every day this week. I think Trenton is used to it now. Since it was so nice out, we have had the doors open and he thinks it's an invitation to go out and play. I always find him pounding on the front door wanting to go out!

Digging in the backyard. He is completely opposite of Brooklyn. She doesn't like to get dirty, but this guy will sit in the rocks and play all day.

And yes, he was trying to eat rocks and dirt.

A dirty face always means you had fun, right?

This picture cracks me up. He walks in circles all day around the couch and the kitchen island. I lost count how many laps he makes now. And most of the time has this play phone up to his ear and jabbers. I don't know who he's talking to, but he sure is happy.

I wanted to get a picture of these two all dressed up for church. This is our typical family. I wanted them to pose for me, Brooklyn's running off in one direction and Trenton is pointing at the camera (probably telling her to come back.)

OK, that's a little better. Say cheese!

We're looking forward to another fun week ahead. I think there will be more trips to the park, bike rides, walks, backyard fun, etc. We LOVE this weather!

Last Week Recap and Outdoor Family Fun

2011-10-03T19:55:00.013-07:00

This looks a boy with no problems whatsoever... wish I could say the same for him last week. He was sick and having some difficulty breathing. My pediatrician said to take him to the ER so that's where we spent our morning on Thursday. Ended up not being a big deal at all, just a respiratory virus, but that was no fun. He was running a fever of 102.5 and just really cranky. Poor guy. He's feeling much better now though, breathing is back to normal and he is eating again. I really don't like when my babies are sick!

Just kicking back watching Baby Einsteins and having a snack. That's my boy!

This was Brooklyn coming downstairs after her nap. The reason I took her picture and thought it was funny was because this was NOT what she went to bed in. She has started changing her clothes about 4 times a day and loves to put jammies on... and usually when she picks out jammies, they are the thermal winter ones. Silly girl. She can't even reach the drawer they're in so she climbs on her rocking horse. Oh, and she has to change her panties every time she changes outfits so they match. She is such a girly girl. And making LOTS of laundry for Mom!

It's starting to cool off a bit more so we've been playing outside! Trenton on the Lightning McQueen car!

Brooklyn testing out the dump truck.

Trenton driving the dump truck so fast he's all blurry! Weeeee!

This is fun Mommy!

Brooklyn is finally tall enough to reach the pedals on her bike. She's been practicing now!

Still having fun! I love his face on this one.

Just a little video clip of them playing. This is the one nice part of living in a t-shaped culdesac... they have a nice open area to play with no traffic.

We got a bike trailer so we can all go on family bike rides. The kids LOVED it. Their smiles say it all.

All closed in and ready to go!

Brooklyn was peeking out the side at me. I was trying hard to take pictures and not crash my bike! LOL.

Daddy pulling the kiddos. This is his new bike!!! Now we can all ride in style! If the weather is correct and it's a nice cool day Thursday we're going to find a good place to bike in the afternoon.

I know I've said it before, but I am really looking forward to the weather cooling off. There are so many more activities we can do when we can spend time outside!

We're Expecting Baby #3

2011-09-28T13:48:00.007-07:00

We are so very excited to be expanding our family again. We are going to have 3 Kids, 3 and under!!!!! I know my hands are going to be full for a while, but we are looking forward to it! There are 21 months between Brooklyn and Trenton, and there will be about 19.5 months between Trenton and #3. Whew! There will never be a dull moment at the Bucy House!

Today was ultrasound day! I always love ultrasound day. For me, it really makes the pregnancy seem real. I love getting that sneak peak, seeing the heart beat and baby moving around in there. Gives me that peace of mind knowing everything is developing on track and this little life truly is beginning.

I am 11 weeks along and Baby Bucy #3 is due April 19th!

This is the face with little arms curled up by the cheeks. It's really hard to see this time around. I was looking back through the early ultrasounds of my other two and they were so much more zoomed in to see the details. Oh well... all looks good and that's all that matters! :)

The little arm was waving at us :)

The ultrasound tech gave Brooklyn her own picture of the baby. Brooklyn was so excited. She was jumping all over showing all the nurses and the Dr. and whoever else crossed her path. She kept saying "Here's a picture of the baby in my mommy's tummy".

So far this pregnancy is following suit with my others. No morning sickness or anything like that. I'm just really exhausted most days. I have Brooklyn and Trenton on the same nap schedule so that means I get to sneak one in every day too. That helps! I am really looking forward to having a Spring baby so I won't need to be pregnant through Summer again! :)

We are so very blessed and can't wait to become a family of five!

Children's Museum of Phoenix

2011-09-24T17:17:00.032-07:00

I have heard so many neat things about this museum so we had a play date there today with my friend and her twins. I wasn't too sure if Trenton was going to get his money's worth of a full admission price and thought he would slow us down, but oh my goodness... that boy sure had fun too!

Painting rocks with water.

Painting with one of the twins. I wish I would have gotten more pictures of all the kids together, but it was a bit hard to keep track of three 2 year olds and a 1 year old. They were all too interested in playing instead of having their picture taken!

More painting fun.

Noodle maze.

Cool, I can make music by beating on the drums!

This was the cutest little supermarket room. Brooklyn was already a pro at shopping after all the help she gives Mommy!

Trenton even had his share of buying groceries.

And they're off. So cute!

I love his face on this one. Shopping is serious business.

Loading her groceries onto the belt so her friend can check her out.

What on earth do you kids need all those carrots for? :) Carrot soup, carrot cake, or maybe my friend thought they might want to feed the rabbits or horses. Hmmm.

Brooklyn climbed up a ladder and there's an area to drop balls in a tunnel... the ball goes all around the room hitting bells, keys and other things to make neat noises. The kids thought that was great!

Trenton found some little game with a ball.

The cooking room. Brooklyn was making me a pizza.

Trenton was stirring up something tasty too!

Then they did their dishes.

Woo hoo, driving a pencil car is fun.

I'm a stud!

Brooklyn had to test out the pink rocket car.

Having a pretend ice cream cone at a little table.

Building a tower with the blocks.

This was cool. You put the race car in up top and there's a clear track so you can see it drop to the other side of the room.

Brooklyn with her friend.

In the art room... There was a big castle and the kids got to paint it. My little prissy girl didn't like to get paint on her though. She doesn't like to be dirty!

Making school bus art projects.

Concentrating really hard with the scissors.

Coloring. I had to watch this guy though because he thought he needed to taste the crayons while he was at it!

Oooooh, bicycle races!

I can do it!

Going up the slide. Yes, up.... I didn't get any pictures of him going down... He needed a hand :)

This place was so much fun. I was very proud of my kids too. They both behaved the entire 4 hours we were there! We will definitely have to go back another time. It really is a place for kids of all ages. I'm so glad I didn't have to carry Trenton around the entire time. He loved being one of the big kids and joining in on the fun!

Grandpa Steve's Water Park

2011-09-23T20:43:00.011-07:00

We love Fridays.... I usually take the kids to play group in the mornings and then we spend the afternoon at my parents' house. The kids love to visit with Grandpa and Grandma, and Tanner is usually there too. Grandpa always comes up with something fun for them to do. Here was today's agenda:

Not only did Grandpa set up one pool for them to play with... he had TWO!!!!! And wouldn't you know, the jungle gym has 2 slides as well. It was perfect!

Look who didn't want to miss out on the fun!

Relaxing...

This picture makes me laugh. Brooklyn is flying through the air in the background and Tanner is driving the quad like a mad man.

Brooklyn jumping off the slide into the pool.

This is by far, the best picture ever!!!!! My cousin came to play with us and her daughter is FEARLESS! She was flying through the air. I couldn't have snapped a more perfect shot! She also had her 4 week old baby boy to visit, but it was too hot outside for him.

Tanner doing a cannon ball.

Trenton splashing on his own. He could care less what the 3 big kids were doing. He was having his own kind of fun!

He thought he'd be brave and try to climb the slide. It's too slippery when wet though. He wasn't too sure what to do when he slipped and fell backwards into the water. Oh well, nice try buddy!

Riding the little quad.

We sure look forward to Fridays! I can't wait for it to cool off so we can play outside more. At least the kids stay cool in the pool now.... It's too hot on the patio for the grown ups! Come on cooler weather!!!!!!

Our Park Adventure and More Walking

2011-09-21T09:25:00.017-07:00

It hasn't been as hot lately, so I thought we might take a walk to the park. There's a nice little park exactly one mile from our house. Sure we could drive there, but this way I get some exercise and the kids still get to play.

Mini Joe Cool in his glasses.

We had taken a long break from visiting the park through the Summer so this was Trenton's first trip since he can actually play too! Brooklyn was thrilled to have someone to teeter when she totters... and Trenton was just thrilled to be able to play!

Walking in the sand is much harder than walking on solid ground, but he did a good job adjusting.

Neither one of them really liked getting dirty though.

Playing around in the grass instead. Brooklyn is much faster and brother just couldn't keep up.

He sure was having fun though. I absolutely LOVE this picture. That's my happy boy enjoying a nice stroll in the grass :)

Yep, I'm cool and I know it!

I had to laugh... whenever he'd lose his balance he'd catch himself in this crouching position so he wouldn't have to touch the grass. Brooklyn is the same way.

Weeee, sliding is fun.

Hmmm, how can I get up there with sister?

She was "driving like a pirate".... yep, those were her words. Quite the imagination.

Jumping really high on the bridge.

Time out for a cool drink after all that playing. I just can't get over how big he is getting. What happened to my baby? He's not allowed to grow up this fast!

After playing we had another mile walk to get home... we were all pink-cheeked by the time we were done. I think it's still a bit too hot to do this daily. I can't wait until it cools off. I think we made this trip daily last spring. I'm ready to do that again!

My happy boy sure had fun!

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Here's another recent video. He sure has gotten the hang of this walking business. He now walks more than he crawls around the house. Still crawls though when he wants to go super fast! He's getting better at turning corners and catching his balance when he's about to fall. He's been getting better at standing himself up without pulling up on anything too. He even has some dance moves! He sure is my big boy!

Bridal Shower

2011-09-19T19:42:00.014-07:00

For those of you who know me, you know how much I absolutely LOVE having such a big family. Well, in two weeks, this family is going to expand again. Kurt's sister is about to get married. We are so excited for her and happy to welcome her soon-to-be-husband to the family...

I threw her a bridal shower this weekend and we had so much fun. Here's the party greeter :)

The gang:

The food:

The cake:

The presents:

Some games... Here's the bride-to-be blindfolded, going to "kiss" her groom.

Even my Grandma got to "kiss" the groom.

As in "Kiss or Miss". Looks like blindfolded ladies don't have very good aim when it comes to kissing :) We had some good laughs.

Another fun game. Ever heard of "hot potato"? Well, have you tried it with a cucumber? We have! And it was passed with no hands, only knees.

And when you laugh too hard, the cucumber falls. I think all of our stomachs hurt from laughing through this game.

Present time.

While everyone else was giving her kitchen things, being the good sister in law that I am, I decided to spice it up a bit by giving her lingerie. :) That's what sister in law's are for, right?

More gifts.

We had a really good time celebrating her special day. Can't wait to see her as a beautiful bride!

Riding in Style!

2011-09-11T20:55:00.004-07:00

Trenton was starting to outgrow his infant carseat so we decided it was time to do something about it. We weren't ready to put Brooklyn in a booster seat just yet, so she got a Britax Frontier that will hold her in a 5 point harness up to 85 pounds. She LOVES her new big girl seat, especially since it has cup holders! :)

Brooklyn's Britax Boulevard got passed down to little brother. Trenton is also loving his new big seat. And he looks so big sitting in it too!!! He is growing up way too fast!

I love how much these two love each other. Brooklyn was resting on the couch the other day when she wasn't feeling well. Trenton climbed up on the treadmill, leaned over the couch, looked her straight in the eye and said plain as day "HI" with a big grin. Melts my heart!

Just had to share this one. Trenton was finishing up his breakfast and I was doing the dishes. I looked over to check on him and saw this... I guess he didn't want to wear that shirt anymore! And it made his hair stand straight up. Makes me laugh! And of course since I was laughing at Trenton, Brooklyn had to do the same thing with her shirt.

We're Just About Walking

2011-09-07T15:36:00.004-07:00

He's definitely getting the hang of this walking business. He's gotten much more confidence this week and practices every day. He's getting further and further every time he tries!!!!

It's about time! He's a month behind Brooklyn. She was full on walking 2 weeks before she turned one. He turned one 2 weeks ago! I know all kids start at their own pace... we've just been waiting for him to conquer it. I may be getting just what I asked for :) That's ok... it's fun chasing after these kids.

Way to go buddy! You're going to be running in no time! Definitely growing up way too fast for me! Where or where did my baby go?

More Baby Races!

2011-09-05T12:29:00.009-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines! We've moved on from hands and knees racing to race car style on wheels!

And they're off.

Trenton likes to drive his car backwards until he runs into something.

Having fun now!

Brooklyn is far too fast for brother to even stand a chance! But I guess she's had more practice with her cousin. Her and Tanner used to play on these things all day.

The old switcheroo.... Now Trenton gets to drive the truck...

Still having fun Mommy!

Having all tile downstairs sure makes for good race car driving!

Baby Races

2011-09-04T20:20:00.009-07:00

I love that these two always have each other to play with. They are the best of buds... most days anyway. Well, on this day, they were playing games together and it was so cute! Brooklyn said they were having "Baby Races."

On your marks, get set, GO!!!!

And they're off! Trenton is in the lead.

Around the treadmill and moving fast!

Vroom.... Into the kitchen. Trenton still up front.

Around the island.... Trenton is looking back to see how much of a lead he has, but Brooklyn is catching up!

And it's a tie at the finish line :) Truth be told, I think Brooklyn was letting him win! You should have heard the two of them as they were racing. Cracks me up!!!!

And after all those races, it was time to share a snack.

Brooklyn has such a great imagination and it makes me so happy that she includes her brother in the games she comes up with. She even came up with the name "Baby Races" on her own!

Silly Kids - I Can't Get Enough of Them

2011-09-02T19:37:00.015-07:00

Looks like Trenton is getting some confidence! If he keeps this up, he'll be walking in no time! Good job buddy!

I love this "walking" face. He's so proud of himself...

Princess Brooklyn, all dolled up!

She is so excited to have pretty toes like mommy!

Trenton and his buddy Bailee! He's got a lot to tell her these days! He's becoming quite the jabbermouth. He's even got a handful of actual words that he says on a daily basis!

Taking baby for a walk in the stroller.

This is from a few weeks ago. Brooklyn having fun in Grammy's pool. She looks so cute!

I love this picture. She was jumping all by herself. She looks so high in the air on this one because I'm underneath her.

Trenton riding a rocking horse by himself at one of our play groups. This was such a fun morning. Story time first and a craft, then gym/play time at Wiggle Worms. We love our Friday play dates!

This was also taken a few weeks ago before we put away the jumper. Our 2 year old still fits in the baby toys!

Boys can play with purses, right? He doesn't seem to care! And don't mind his mis-matched clothes... he had an accident that day :)

I don't know how there's enough room for her in her bed with all those "friends" that have to sleep with her every night!

I LOVE this face. Trenton and Brooklyn were fighting over who gets to crawl in this cubby hole. He was having fun and showing off!

I definitely cannot get enough of these kiddos. There's never a dull moment around here!

Happy Birthday to Me :)

2011-08-30T20:59:00.012-07:00

My 32nd birthday was on Saturday. I share my birthday with my brother and he just turned 30 so we got together with a bunch of friends and family and celebrated at Wild Horse Pass. We had a great time. This was the first time that I've been away from my kids overnight, with the exception of the times I was in the hospital while pregnant and having Trenton. It was nice having a little weekend away! Too bad my internal clock is set and I couldn't take advantage by sleeping in :)

This was Kurt and I before we left.

I was spoiled with a bunch of cool birthday presents and gift cards. And Kurt surprised me with a new camera since mine has been acting up. I love it! It's an upgraded version of what I had before... still shock proof so it won't break if dropped, waterproof, etc. I love it!

I was testing it out today and Trenton thought he'd show off by showing me his snack. Gross!

I was playing around with a ton of cool settings. They were pretty neat, so thought I'd share.

Watercolor mode:

Shaded edges:

Pop Art: (made the colors super bright)

Drawing mode:

Soft focus: (made it sort of blurry around the edges)

Sparkle mode: (Look at the edges of her blanket. I want to play around with this one more)

Punk mode:

And this was just cute. Brooklyn was in her shopping cart and Trenton pushed her all over the house. I would have thought she was too heavy, but he's pretty strong I guess.

I can't wait to play around with my camera more! It seems I'm never without it wherever I go so I sure am happy to have a reliable one again! It was getting pretty frustrating with the old one. Thanks to my honey for picking up on that and getting me a new one :)

Successful Transition

2011-08-29T19:38:00.002-07:00

Our transition from the bottle to the sippy cup was a successful one... and completed in just over a week! That makes me one happy mommy! I packed up the bottles today and he is officially only drinking from a cup, including his night time milk :)

I think this makes him happy too! What do you think? OK, maybe it's Bailee that makes him happy...

I only wish it would have gone this smooth with Brooklyn. I guess it was easier this time around since I started early and since he had big sister to look up to.

Holding Balance

2011-08-29T19:08:00.002-07:00

This little boy is being stubborn about walking. I know if he just tried he can do it. He still walks all over the whole house if he's pushing something or has a finger to hold on to. But when it comes time to doing it on his own, he's lacking the confidence. He is getting much better at standing alone though.

I catch him standing up all the time without holding on, even when he's in the bathtub. He sways his arms back and forth "dancing", he claps, he catches his balance when he's about to fall... but he just doesn't want to move those feet. He's taken a few steps here and there, but this boy doesn't want to take off and go just yet.

The Big Birthday Boy!!!!

2011-08-23T19:23:00.019-07:00

Happy 1st Birthday to our sweet baby boy Trenton! We love you!

We had his party this weekend. This is the only picture I took of the decorations. They were cute. And instead of ordering food, I made it all this time! It was a lot of work, but I was pleased with how it all turned out. I think everyone had a good time!

The birthday boy having some snacks. He and Brooklyn ended up missing the first part of the party because they were sleeping. I went in to wake Brooklyn about 3 times and she kept telling me "I need a few more minutes to rest please" It was so cute!

Opening presents... He got his own big boy chair since he kept stealing Brooklyn's pink princess chair. He loves it!

He got a lot of other cool stuff too (trucks, books, clothes, trains, puzzles, etc). He has been playing with it all nonstop. He really loved playing with the balloons at the party too!

His birthday cake, to match the polka dot theme!

And his own special cake.

I don't give my babies any sugar the first year so cake was new to him! It was so funny. He didn't know what to do with it. He put his fingers in the frosting then started flinging it everywhere trying to get it off his hands. It was on the floor, on the chairs, on the wall...

Digging his finger in. Brooklyn had a front row seat and kept asking if she could have a bite!

He wouldn't even take a bite of the cake until we gave him a fork. I tried putting some in his mouth and was trying to get him to lick his fingers, but he wanted nothing to do with it. Once he had a fork, he went to town! It was hilarious :)

Mmmmm, yummy! And oh so messy!!!!

The aftermath. He went straight to the bath after this!

The kids having a snack on Trenton's new picnic table. This gift came in handy at the party so the little kids could have their own spot.

He LOVES this table. He climbs up and down all by himself and sits there like a big boy. He even tries to sit on top of it, but mommy doesn't let him. He really has gotten the hang of it though... only fell off once :) He's not going to be happy when I put it away....

Yep, Trenton got a new chair so Brooklyn could have hers back... but what do you know... Brooklyn likes the new one better. Everything that comes into the house is hers, right? She's having a hard time understanding all the new toys belong to brother!

Having a morning snack at his table.

Trenton had a wonderful birthday party. We were so excited to celebrate his special day. I still can't believe he's one! This year has flown by. I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday. I can't imagine life without this sweet boy. We love you buddy!

Bye Bye Bottles

2011-08-16T18:47:00.003-07:00

Those of us with children know that the first one is trial and error... you do your best, but sometimes look back and think of things you could have done differently. When #2 comes along, you adjust based on how they went with the first...

Well, saying goodbye to the bottle is one of the things I am choosing to do differently this time around. Brooklyn had hers until she was 20 months and it was SO HARD to get her off of them. She associated milk with a bottle and juice with a cup and absolutely refused to drink milk out of a cup. It got to the point where she was dehydrated and not going potty because she just wouldn't drink. And since she was older and talking, she would argue with me about it and would cry for a bottle. Of course she got over it and eventually drank milk from a cup, but it was a battle I don't want to do again.

This guy is turning one next week so I thought I'd start weening him from the bottle!

It's actually going very well. I don't give him juice yet, so he doesn't have that association of flavored things in a cup. He's only had water in the cup before. He's always trying to steal Brooklyn's so I figured it was worth a shot switching him over.

I'm still giving him his bedtime milk in a bottle for now, but the rest of the day, it's strictly from a cup. And for the most part, he's drinking about the same amount, it's just broken up a bit throughout the day. I think this just might work!!!! Yeay! I'm very excited to get the bottles packed away!

And since he didn't really care for a binky, that was put away when he was just a few months old. Binkies were another hard one to break with Brooklyn, so I'm glad we don't have to go there with Trenton!

If You're Happy and You Know It

2011-08-14T21:50:00.002-07:00

This is one of Trenton's favorite songs right now. Whenever it comes on his video, or when someone starts singing it to him, he drops everything and starts clapping his hands. He is getting to be so much fun. I can't believe he'll be turning one next week!

Yes and No

2011-08-14T21:36:00.004-07:00

Here's a cute little video of Trenton. He learned yes and no. He will nod his head and say "ya" for yes and shake it side to side and say "na" for no. It's adorable! Of course he wasn't cooperating the same once I pulled the camera out, but you get the idea. He got more interested in doing his "tricks" instead.

Proud Momma

2011-08-09T18:00:00.003-07:00

I am so PROUD of this little girl. Today I told her "I'm so proud of you sweetheart" and she responded "I'm not sweetheart, I'm Brooklyn." :)

It has been 2 months since she's been potty trained and she is doing so awesome! I still put a pull up on her for bedtime, but for over 2 weeks now she's been waking up dry in the morning (with a couple exceptions here and there, but hey).

No matter what fun thing she's doing, she stops and tells me when she has to go. She'll even get out of the bathtub or swimming pool. No matter how far away we are, she'll hold it until we get to a bathroom.

And lately she has been getting herself out of bed around 1 to potty. I'm not too fond of that since I'm not used to being woken in the middle of the night, but I'm so happy that she's learning to get up. And it doesn't interrupt her sleep either. She climbs right back up into her bed, closes her eyes and I don't hear another peep until morning.

I am so proud of you Brooklyn! You're such a BIG girl now! Maybe one of these days I'll actually take the pull ups away altogether.... I guess they are more convenient for me so I don't have to worry about changing bedding in the middle of the night :)

My Daughter is One of a Kind :)

2011-08-03T13:11:00.009-07:00

I came home from the gym and Brooklyn was watching cartoons.... wearing a jammie shirt, panties and snow boots! I just love this little girl to pieces :)

She LOVES her snow boots and apparently they make her run FAST!

Another thing she loves is to dance. Here she is shaking her booty!

I caught her mid twirl... nice action shot with her hair flipping around.

And more dancing. She makes me laugh with all her moves!

Doing her puzzle. She had all the pieces out and sorted by color before putting them back where they belong. She definitely has some melancholy in her!

This was just too funny.... Who needs clean up service when you have a dog! Got crumbs? No problem. Bailee isn't allowed to sit underneath the high chair and beg while Trenton is eating, but she sure gets over there fast when he's done. She knows she'll find something!

And what is a post without a picture of this cute little ham. I guess he was pretending to be a puppy like his sister does!

I love these kids!

Fun in the Sun

2011-07-31T22:02:00.019-07:00

I like to do activities outside. It gives us fresh air and exercise. But lately, it's just too hot to do anything unless it involves water. So, water it is! I set up the pool for Brooklyn on Wednesday while Trenton was napping.

She had a blast. I did some yard work and gave the dog a bath while we were out there!

And then Brooklyn cooled me off with the hose :)

Our Friday play group met at the splash pad at the mall. The kids had so much fun! Here's Brooklyn and her buddy Nash.

I knew Brooklyn would have a ball with the pop jets.

What I didn't expect was how much fun this little guy would have! The jets would go off at different times and he kept crawling to the ones that were spraying. He was even pushing his way through the big kids to get to the water.

He was soaked! I could not believe how much fun he was having.

He kept going off exploring on his own. He was laughing and jabbering the whole time. Totally surprised me! I thought I was going to have to hold him the whole time, but nope!

After play group, we spent the afternoon with my parents and my nephew. Trenton didn't last long in their play pool... I think he was beat. He snacked on some strawberries in the backyard instead and then took a nap.

Brooklyn and Tanner sure had fun in the pool though. Here's an action shot of Brooklyn jumping off the top of the slide. I couldn't believe how fearless she was. She's never done so many tricks in the pool!

Going down the slide. I didn't take pictures of all the stunts they were doing. They would go down head first, on their knees, backwards sitting up, backwards laying down, etc.

Tanner flying through the air.

The big kids wanted to color and Trenton thought it would be fun to help them. He played with the crayons for a bit and then all he wanted to do was eat them!

My parents' dog had a birthday on Friday, so the kids thought it would be fun to sing happy birthday. My dad even gave them candles on a donut!

And of course the dogs got to eat it :)

Trenton climbed up on the seat of this picnic table all by himself. He wants to be one of the big kids so bad! I think he wanted a bite of their donut too. Sorry buddy, this momma doesn't give any sugar to her babies until after they're a year old.... And even then, it's sparingly.

I do have to admit, I am looking forward to when it cools off again. We'll get a much wider variety of activities then. It's just too hot out there for me!

Staying Busy While Daddy's Away

2011-07-24T20:46:00.028-07:00

Kurt left on Thursday for a Team Convention in Fresno, CA. I was bummed that I couldn't go with him, but someone had to stay home with the babies. He'll be home late tonight so I thought I'd post about all the fun stuff we did while he was away. I didn't realize how much I packed into the weekend!!!! This might be a LONG post :)

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Friday morning: I got together with a couple of my friends (whose husbands were also at the convention with Kurt) and we had a play date at the mall. Here's Trenton playing in one of the tunnels.

Crawling through a cave trying to catch his friend Kimber. I think it's so cute that he's grabbing on to her bum. Watch out girls... he's a flirt!

Brooklyn climbing on top of a beaver. My camera is acting dumb so my pictures are turning out darker than they should.

After playing, we did some shopping at the mall and had lunch in the food court. It was fun spending time with my friends and the kids got completely worn out and both went down for naps as soon as we got home!

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Friday evening: We went to my friend Misty's house for dinner and she had a bunch of people over as well. Here's my little charmer. Love those big blue eyes!

Brooklyn having a "picnic" dinner with her friend Kaydence. The kitty kept trying to steal their food so of course Brooklyn kept scolding her.

Trenton found a lemon slice. I knew it was going to go straight for his mouth, but I let him figure it out for himself that it was sour.

Funny part is, he actually liked it! He sucked on this thing until there was no juice left and then got mad when I took away the peel.

Brooklyn was showing the girls her moves. She likes to dance like the people on "So You Think You Can Dance". I think we may need to sign her up for dance class one day. She LOVES it!

I hadn't planned on staying out so late, but the kids were behaving and I was having fun. It was about 10:30 when we finally got home.... WAY past bedtime.

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Saturday: A friend of mine brought her twins over to our house for a play date. I set up the kiddie pool in the backyard and they had a blast! My friend and I were wishing the pool was bigger so we could cool off too! Even though the kids were having fun, we were roasting while out there supervising!

Brooklyn doing "tricks" on the slide.

More tricks with her feet in the air.

Trenton even went in for a bit this time. Didn't last long though. I think it might have been too much commotion for him.

Trying to catch the water that drips from the tree. Didn't stop Brooklyn from sliding on him. That may have been another reason he wanted to get out.

Playing with friends.

It was so cute, she said good bye to the boys and even got a hug out of one of them! I love having friends with children around the same ages as mine. It's so good for them to have that interaction.

This was another activity that completely wore them out. They both went down for naps when our play date was over. Trenton actually slept for 5 hours straight!

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Spaghetti mess: I gave Trenton spaghetti for the first time Saturday night. He loved it, and it made a lovely mess! He's starting to get the hang of using his fork too, even though most went in with the hands...

Straight to the bath you go Mister!

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Tanner's Birthday Party: My nephew turns 4 tomorrow and had a Peter Piper Pizza birthday party. It was a fun, loud afternoon full of family and friends.

Trenton loved trying to catch the balloons.

Here's the birthday boy. Him and my dad picked out this mustache disguise as one of his prizes when he cashed in his tickets. What a dork! But hey, he's cute!

Brooklyn on the mini merry go round.

Trenton being a big boy on the merry go round. He thought he was pretty cool holding on all by himself. Oh, and I noticed today that he cut two more teeth on top. He now has 6 chompers in there!

We ate pizza and cake and once again, completely wore the kids out!!!

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I love these kids. They are both getting so big. Trenton is trying so hard to walk. He's almost got the hang of it. He just needs one hand to hold for balance. Here's sister helping him out! She's such a good encourager too. She cheers him on "You can do it, you can do it"

Oh boy... here he is standing all by himself without holding onto anything! He can only hold it for a few seconds before losing balance, but hey, it was long enough for me to snap a picture! Look at that serious face!

Once he gets brave enough to go on his own, he's just going to take off! His legs are pretty strong and he goes fast when he's pushing something. He just gets nervous if I let go. Brooklyn started walking 2 weeks before she turned one... Trenton will be one in 4 weeks. He's getting close!

Movie Time!!!

2011-07-20T22:24:00.003-07:00

Brooklyn got to see her first movie at the movie theater today. She was SO EXCITED!!!!! Trenton stayed with Grandma since movies are for "big kids" and we took off to see Cars 2.

Sage, Tanner and Brooklyn holding hands in the parking lot. It was too cute so of course I had to take a picture. These cousins love each other.

It's getting ready to start. Can you tell by Brooklyn's expression that she's excited and ready? :)
This is fun stuff!!!!

Loading up to go home... Don't you love all the candy of her face? It's all over her shirt too but the buckle covers it. Auntie Heidi made her day when she showed up with treats! I guess this counts as one of those occasions where you get to splurge and have a ton of sugar, right?

She sat still and watched most the movie quietly. Got a tad restless right at the very end, but all in all, I think she did great. We just might have to do this more often!

Silly Boy!

2011-07-19T10:56:00.007-07:00

We were visiting my parents the other day and Tanner had one of his bikes over there. Trenton kept trying to climb up on it so I gave him a boost. He took off backwards and pushed this thing all over the house by himself. He thought he was hot stuff and was so proud of himself. He's getting so big!!!!

Is the food boring you? I was cleaning up dinner the other night and Trenton was snacking on some toast to keep him out of my hair. I looked over and started laughing because he was just sitting there resting his head on his hand.

He LOVES watching "Your Baby Can Read" videos. He's starting to imitate what they do too. I think you're a little too close to the TV though buddy.

Uh oh, brother spilled his Cheerios all over the floor. But have no fear, sister is here to help clean them up.... I guess it's a good thing the floors get cleaned often since they also double as a plate! :)

And that's what my silly boy has been up to this week!!!

More July Vacation Pics

2011-07-13T21:52:00.020-07:00

It just dawned on me that I posted 4th of July pics, but not the rest. Here are some more from our recent Colorado trip...

Trenton was having fun playing on the kids' quad... Maybe next year he'll be able to make it go on his own.

Brooklyn figured out how to do it herself and had Tanner trying to hop on while she was moving. These two had so much fun together all week long!

Running FAST! This girl sure loves to be outside.

We drove to Telluride again one afternoon and rode the gondola into town. This is such a beautiful view!

Me and Trenton in the gondola.

Brooklyn sitting with Auntie Heidi in the gondola.

Me and the kiddos in Telluride. So pretty there!

We stopped for lunch at Brown Dog Pizza which is where we go every time we visit.

I love this picture... "Kissing Cousins". OK, maybe Trenton is just head butting like he always does, but it sure is cute!

Sleeping arrangements in CO. Trenton in the pack and play.

Brooklyn in her princess sleeping bag on the floor. After 8 nights of sharing a room with the kids, I sure was glad to go home to my own bed :)

We took the kids to the Dolores park to wear them out a bit. Brooklyn striking a pose...

Push me higher!

I thought it would be cute to get a picture of both my kids on the swing so I put Trenton in Brooklyn's lap and backed up to take the shot.... And as soon as I did, she pushed him right out. The camera still went off as I reached for him. Too funny!

And yes, I'm a big kid too and liked playing with them. Trenton must have been comfy because he just about fell asleep on me.

The day before we left a big rain and thunderstorm came in. Brooklyn was sitting with Kurt and kept putting her hands over her ears because it was too loud... then she fell asleep on him. She never does that! He moved her to a bench on the porch and that's where she napped for about an hour... through rain and thunder.

Trenton trying to help Grandma do the dishes. And by helping, I mean licking the dishwasher and rubbing his hands all over it. He left a lot of nice fingerprints all over the kitchen!

Trenton cut one of his top teeth right before we left for vacation and the 2nd while we were in CO. They came through so fast and are getting so big already.

Passed out on the drive home. I love how he has his arms behind his head.

Oh, and I'm happy to say, Brooklyn made it through the 7.5 hour drive each way with dry pants! She would hold it in between rest stops even if we were an hour away when she told me she needed to go. I had a pull up on her for back up so I wouldn't have to deal with a wet carseat, but she didn't need it! Way to go Brooklyn!

We had a fun vacation. Looks like this might be our 3rd and final one this year though :(

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-05T07:34:00.014-07:00

Happy Fourth of July! We spent it "Colorado Style" except this year fireworks were banned because of the dry hot weather so we couldn't fire off our own show like we normally do. We had probably hundreds of fireworks in the garage that went to waste. Maybe next year!

Me and Trenton sporting our red white and blue... and of course our cool shades :)

The rest of the family all decked out! We drove into Cortez to see the city firework show. It wasn't the same as being home, but we sure had a good time.

The kids had cool light sabers.

Brooklyn thought it was pretty neat. They changed colors and made a wonderful noise.... Kurt wants to know if he can use a screwdriver to disconnect the sound.... haha

Brooklyn eating a snow cone at the park.

Cousin Tanner eating a snow cone.

Brooklyn having a sword fight with Cousin Sage.

My camera has a cool fireworks setting so I got some neat shots.

When we got home, Tanner and Brooklyn had to say goodnight to Firecracker, the crawdad Tanner found in the creek. They also fed him hot dogs. I guess he makes a good pet. Brooklyn doesn't want to touch him though because "He'll pinch her tiny finger and make her cry". That's my girl :)

Hope everyone else had a nice Fourth of July!

Friday Play Group

2011-06-27T22:08:00.011-07:00

A friend of mine put together a play group with different activities every Friday. It's so great to get out of the house and let the kids have fun together. This past week was at Jambo Park. The kids had a great time!!! Here's Brooklyn testing out the train.

Flying the airplane.

Cousin Tanner got to come play too!

I just had to have a picture of this because of how ridiculous we look... Trenton is far too big for the Bjorn, but I wasn't about to let him crawl around all over the dirty floor... so this is where he spent about 3 hours! He was actually entertained with all the lights and stuff going on and didn't seem to mind. My back sure hurt when we were done.

Tanner and Brooklyn were cute holding hands.

Tried to get a picture with Brooklyn's friend Nash. Tanner seemed to be the only one to pose for us.

Driving. Watch out!

Later that evening, Kurt and I took the kids to visit some friends. Baby Daisy is only about 2 weeks younger than Trenton. She is so petite compared to him. When I picked her up she felt light as a feather. Trenton sure liked putting on the moves... you know, poking her eyes, grabbing her ears, slapping her head. I guess I need to teach him how to treat the ladies when he has a crush!

It was fun to see the babies interact since last time they just stared at eachother! I'm looking forward to watching these two grow up together!

Potty Training is a Success! Finally :)

2011-06-22T18:53:00.010-07:00

OK, I know this has been my primary topic of discussion this past week, but I couldn't be more happy! Brooklyn is officially potty trained! (with the exception of a pull up for bedtime). We got rid of the diaper just over a week ago and are NOT going back! She has not had any accidents for several days now, wakes up dry from her naps and no longer needs potty reminders. When she has to go, she does it all on her own, even #2!!!!! I am so proud of her :)

We have since moved her potty chair to the bathroom, but until she got the hang of it, she went in front of everyone!

And was a bit silly at first too! She cracks me up! Way to go Brooklyn. You are officially a big girl now!!!!!!

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Can't leave my little man out. He was playing on the treadmill and fell back against the wall (notice his little foot sticking up). Just a bit of an awkward position buddy. Goofball...

Playing with sister's kitchen. It wasn't long after this picture that he pulled the whole thing on top of him as he fell back.

Someone made her own fort...

There she is!

And someone else figured out that these cupboards open up... but darn it, they have locks on them. He didn't get the chance to experience emptying them out... Silly mommy has everything child-proofed.

Oh, you have the camera on me? Let me at it!

And that about wraps up our week.

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T22:44:00.013-07:00

Happy Father's Day Kurt! You are a wonderful husband and the best Daddy to our children.

Kurt and the kiddos all dressed up for church this morning...

We fixed Daddy a quick breakfast and gave him his present.

And when we got to church, they had all these cool cars parked in the lawn. I don't think there was any particular reason... just that they were cool and dads like cars! :)

I think this was Kurt's favorite... The Mazaratti.

This Corvette had neat doors...

The Ferrari was pretty too. And yes, all the dads had fun checking them out! There were a ton more, and motorcycles too, but you get the idea...

I thought it was pretty neat that after the service was over, they were passing out Dad's Root Beer to all the dads.

After church, we had Kurt's dad, stepmom, sister, and her fiance over for lunch. We had a really nice afternoon, but I forgot to pull the camera out. There was good food, good conversations, and I think more talk about cars, golf and other "dad" stuff.

For dinner, we went to my brother and sister in law's house to spend time with my side of the family. Trenton was flirting with the girls. Here he is with Aspen. She's his favorite I think.

Brooklyn and Tanner went swimming in Tanner's pool.

This was Trenton at our house this morning... The gate to the stairs was open so he helped himself and was halfway up when I noticed him. Luckily I got there just in time before he lost his balance.

Then this was him at my brother's house on the stairs. At the halfway mark he stopped to give me a smile.

Then turned the corner and went the rest of the way up all by himself. My brother stood behind him every step to make sure he didn't tumble. Trenton is definitely turning into a little explorer... and fearless.

We had more good food and a ton of fun over there. Didn't get kids home and in bed until after 10, but they survived. It was a busy day, but lots of fun. Happy Father's Day!!!!!!

Bribery.... Works Like a Charm!

2011-06-15T14:57:00.004-07:00

ALL of the toys were out of this toy bin and on the floor, on the couch, on the treadmill, etc. I don't care that they take them all out because they're having fun... but I wasn't in the mood to clean them all up today, so I bribed Brooklyn! We got a new Disney movie on blu ray and I told her if she cleaned up all the toys, we could watch it.

So that's exactly what she did. She pushed this little shopping cart around, filled it up with toys, then put them away and went back for more. Once they were all cleaned up, I held up my end of the bargain and we watched our new movie :) Everyone was happy!

Brooklyn is turning into quite the little helper these days! No complaints here :)

These Two Make Me Laugh

2011-06-14T22:03:00.006-07:00

Brooklyn was eating Cheerios and Trenton kept crawling around after her begging for some. She'd flick one on the floor and say "Here's your dinner brother". He didn't care that they were on the floor. He'd pick them up, shove them in his mouth and follow her around for more!

Now that Trenton climbs up on everything, he's causing more problems for Brooklyn. He can reach her art now and ripped a big page off her easel. She was so frustrated and kept telling me he ripped her picture and was being naughty.

This is a fun game! Brooklyn is hiding underneath the blanket and Trenton was cracking up laughing at her. She'd jump out and say "gotcha" and he'd giggle. Then she'd cover him up and they'd both laugh! They do have their moments at being friends.

She put her princess chair on the treadmill and said she was reading the grocery papers (my weekly Albertson's ad). She said we needed to buy bananas at the store!

Trenton loves the treadmill too. They piled a bunch of toys on it and he climbed up to play. The only problem with this is, what goes up, must come down. He hasn't figured out the graceful dismount and falls off every time. But he keeps getting back on so it must not be too bad!

I love that their personalities are coming out more and more each day. They have so much fun, which means I do too!

Bossy Sister

2011-06-08T04:33:00.006-07:00

I wanted to post about this earlier, but forgot. While we were on vacation all four of us had to share a room (which we're not used to, but we made it work). Naptime was probably the trickiest because they both go down at the same time and neither of them were in their own beds. Brooklyn had her princess sleeping bag which she loves...

And Trenton had the pack and play, which isn't near as comfy as his crib, but does the trick.

Anyway, one afternoon I put them down and once it was quiet I left to go hang out with Kurt. My mom was there to listen for the kids. Well, Trenton starts screaming bloody murder and that's not like him when it's time for a nap. My mom picked him up to comfort him and asked Brooklyn what was wrong with her brother. (Brooklyn is all tucked into her bed at the time like she's little miss innocent).

Brooklyn responds "Mommy said it was naptime".

My mom says "OK, but why is he crying?"

To that, Brooklyn says "It's naptime, he was standing, so I put him down".

She said it so matter of factly like it was no big deal. And by "put him down" that little stinker went over to him and SHOVED him down. He made sure to tell Grandma on her!

Yep, that's my bossy little girl. I guess it didn't matter that she was supposed to be laying down in her bed too!

I See a Split Lip in our Future!

2011-06-04T22:32:00.002-07:00

When I said earlier that Trenton has been pulling himself up on everything lately.... I really do mean everything! Now he thinks it's a game to stand in the bathtub, but that darn bathtub is so slippery... I have a feeling his big smile won't last long once he hits his head. As many times as I sat him down, he climbed right back up. He even slipped a couple times and went face first in the water (without hitting anything) and that didn't even phase him.

I'm going to be in trouble with this fearless boy! Good thing Kurt has a good insurance plan :) He's so different from Brooklyn. I love it though!

May Vacation... Colorado Style :)

2011-06-02T15:11:00.038-07:00

Just a forewarning... this is a long post. We spent 8 days in Colorado. It was so nice to get away from the AZ heat. Just look at the beautiful weather that we had. Who could ask for more?

My dad put this in between his property and one of the neighbor's houses. They live too far apart to walk, but it's not convenient to drive... so we take the quads and Ranger wherever we want to go. The path we made has been named "Cook Trail."

Brooklyn LOVED to go on quad rides. She thought she was hot stuff.

Trenton had to get down in the dirt and play too.

We bought Brooklyn her first kite while we were up there. She had so much fun doing it all by herself.

I absolutely love this picture. She had so much fun with her princess kite.

I make kite-flying look good!

Taking a stroll down into the meadow with the dogs. I can't wait until brother can follow her. I think he feels left out when she's always taking off.

Trenton in his Carhartt's that my dad bought for him. I guess all the country guys wear that brand. He fit right in, and looked pretty darn cute!

Uh oh, Grandma's kitchen isn't baby proofed... There's lots of fun stuff I can get into here! And trust me, I found it all.

My handsome boys!

Kurt and my dad got to go on trail rides two different days with one of the neighbors and his horses.

This one is a little blurry, but I love the beautiful background behind them!

We were enjoying a lot of outside time too! Miss Brooklyn had fun coloring pictures with sidewalk chalk.

This particular day, we had finished breakfast and she told me it was a beautiful day for blowing bubbles... her words exactly.... so that's just what we did!

It's much easier for the wind to blow the pinwheel :)

Trenton kept crawling out to the rocks and grabbing them by the handful... and where do you think they went next? That's right, straight to the mouth. Those are not snacks buddy!

Grandma's big bathtub. Trenton typically loves taking baths, but not so much in this one. Maybe because it was too deep and scared him... who knows.

He had more fun playing with the pinwheel on the floor.

Hmmm, where should I move my highchair next? It sure is fun to push it out of the corner.

Brooklyn has recently gotten into money. She loves to put "minnies" in her pocket. We were at John and Stacy's and they have a slot machine in their basement for fun. Brooklyn kept grabbing all the quarters and shoving them in her pockets. We were all laughing! They had to frisk her before we left and empty her pockets.

Brooklyn and Stacy playing with bunny masks. These two are such good buddies.

A couple weeks ago Trenton started pulling himself up to a standing position while in his crib. Last week he started pulling himself up on anything and everything. This particular day he was on one end of the couch and saw a water bottle a couple feet away so took a few steps while holding onto the couch until he could reach the bottle.... I'm not ready for this yet! He seems to think he's pretty cool.

Playing on the porch.

Bailee must have been resting on the chalk pictures because she had a rainbow on her bum.

I love being outdoors. If you don't believe me, just look at my smile :)

Brooklyn and Grandpa riding on the Ranger. Trenton actually got to ride too, but I didn't have enough hands to take a picture. Next time!

She loves to hold her brother. She better hold on tight though, he doesn't sit still anymore, and is almost as big as her.

Silly boy, you have yogurt snacks stuck to your face. They're supposed to go IN your mouth!

I had gotten back from one of my jogs and was doing push ups. Brooklyn asks "What are you doing Mommy?" and I tell her push ups. She responds "I want to play push ups too". If only these were as fun for me as they are for her. Go ahead child... play push ups all you want, you just need to work on your form a bit :)

I don't know why we spend so much money on toys... a plastic water bottle seems to be pretty fun!

We were packing up to come home and I had left Trenton in the back bedroom. I come around the corner and he's in the living room... I walked past him and when I came back, he was all the way in the kitchen. This boy gets around.

You have to look close in this one. Brooklyn was playing on the couch and had so much static in her hair. It was standing straight up. Too funny!

It's a long drive home. Good thing these two have each other to keep them company. They are shaking hands here... and they played peek a boo and shared snacks, and even took a good nap together. It made for an easy ride home. I am so glad they are good travelers since we take this trip so often.

Standing some more.... "Hey guys, why do you have to have these gates here? I want to go in there." I sure am glad our house is baby proofed from Brooklyn.... Trenton is always trying to find things to get into.

We had such a fun vacation... It's nice to be home in our own rooms though. I think that was the hardest part... all four of us sharing one room. It made it interesting, but we survived. We are looking forward to going back and doing it all over again in about 3 or 4 weeks!

My Little Ham

2011-05-28T15:53:00.012-07:00

Trenton has been crawling up on his knees more often, but his position of choice is still the army crawl. He has mastered that over the past couple months and is pretty dang quick.

Oh, you have the camera out? Let me give you a big smile...

Yep, I'm pretty cute. Let me sit here and twiddle my thumbs for you :)

Now I'm going to get this chair.

Oh, you have the camera out again? Let me get it.

Wait, there's another chair. I think I'll move this one around.

Oh, there's the camera again.... I'm going to get that instead! (Notice his left leg bent up in the air.... this is how his army crawl works... one foot up and pushes off with the other... and it's always the same leg in the air. He cracks me up).

Nope, mommy won't let me have it, but here's another chair. I'll push it instead.

Hey, there's the camera... I'll pose again.

Now I'll go to my play house for a while. But first, let me smile for that camera.

Yep, he's my little ham! Show me that grin buddy!

It's That Time of Year Again.... Water Time!

2011-05-22T15:14:00.021-07:00

It's getting hot out and my friend was bringing her twins over for a play date at our house... so what does that mean? We needed a new pool for the backyard! Brooklyn had to check it out first.

They thought it was pretty neat! The hose attaches to it and drips water from the palm tree.

Bailee thought it was pretty cool too and kept trying to catch the water in her mouth!

The twins thought it was fun getting splashed from the tree.

The boys were swimming while Brooklyn caught grass in the bucket and cleaned out the pool. Yes, she's my prissy girl. That's why the tarp was underneath... to reduce the amount of grass in the water.

The twins were having fun in Brooklyn's play house!

We had such a good time with our friends. After they left and Brooklyn napped, we decided to go back out and play some more! She said the water fountain was tickling her.

Bailee must have thought it was an over-sized water bowl because she kept drinking it!

Let me out! I want to play too!!! Poor Trenton... He liked the big pool, but this one was still too cold for him. He started crying as soon as his feet touched.

She likes to drink the water too.

I'm FREEZING Mommy!

Since we had so much fun playing in the water on Saturday, we decided to do it again today. This time we got the sprinkler out too!

And then Mommy put the sprinkler on the slide and turned it into a water slide!

This is fun.

Bailee was playing lifeguard. Or maybe she was just the guard dog. Who knows...

I love to slide :)

We had a picnic lunch outside. I didn't want to drag out the highchair, so Bumbo chair did the trick!

Mmmmm, Daddy makes good picnic lunches for me!

Looks like we have a lot of water fun in our future! This ought to keep us cool as it keeps getting hotter and hotter out this summer.

Fun in May!

2011-05-16T08:40:00.019-07:00

Every time I went to update last week, blogger was down... so here it goes!

Trenton LOVES to read his books.

OK, he loves to look at the pictures! Not quite ready to read yet :)

And he really LOVES to snuggle this monkey during naptime.

Brooklyn's "choo choo track". She was so proud of this. She kept driving Trenton's train and cars over the track.

Big boy started climbing on his own a couple weeks ago. We had to lower the crib mattress. He's on his knees here, all the way up would have dumped him overboard.

He thought he was so funny crawling underneath his jumper. I have a picture exactly like this from when Brooklyn was a baby.

Brooklyn found Kurt's socks laying around, so put them on with her shoes. They're a tad big sweetheart!

She has been letting me do more fun things with her hair... and it's finally long enough to cooperate! Too bad it doesn't stay this pretty all day. After a few hours she pulls it all out :(

This made me laugh... reminds me of those undie jogs they do at some colleges! :) It seems lately she is happy stripping all her clothes off. Too bad mommy makes her put them back on!

They both had to crawl through the door of the play house at the same time...

Brooklyn was "vacuuming" with her own makeshift vacuum. And yes, those are snow boots on her feet. She has been obsessed with them lately and wears them on a daily basis. Kurt told her "nice shoes" and she quickly corrected him... "Those are not my shoes, they are my snow boots"

Say aaaw Trenton. I have to be careful with these two. She is always wanting to feed him, but doesn't understand that he can't have her snacks too. Last week I found cashews in his carseat. Good thing he didn't try and eat those.

Brooklyn and her art project. She LOVES to paint.

She made caterpillars to give to the Grandma's on Mother's Day.

And ladybugs too. Mommy helped her finish them off... she did all the painting herself.

Brooklyn made this for me in church on Mother's Day. So cute! I'm glad I got a picture of it because she took it off the fridge and her and Trenton ended up playing tug of war with it. I think Trenton won.

Silly Sleepers

2011-04-30T08:53:00.013-07:00

This post is primarily for me so I can remember one of my most favorite things... sleeping babies. I have been peeking in on them lately during naptime and before bed and just keep finding the cutest little positions. They are so sweet, innocent and peaceful.

Just look at this face!

And the funny part is, he's laying the wrong way in the crib and doesn't fit so his feet are propped up on the bumper.

During naptime, Brooklyn had pulled ALL her toys out of the toy box and covered them with her "big blanket". I guess that made a good spot to fall asleep!

This picture is rare because she's in her bed. She's gone the past month and a half sleeping only on her floor. I'm not sure why, but that's what she wanted to do so I let her. It made me laugh because she's in the baby "touchdown" sleeping pose with her arms over her head.

More napping in a pile of toys. At least this time she's resting her head on a pillow pet.

He must like propping those legs up!

Where's Waldo? I mean, Brooklyn? Oh, in another pile of toys. Silly girl!

Most favorite sleeping position... on his tummy... just like mommy!

Kurt said he doesn't know why we bought her such a nice bed... it's only wasted space in there! She prefers the hard floor.

Hang on for dear life!

I love my sleeping babes!