Another year

A new school year is under way as Braedon started his second year of preschool last Monday!  He absolutely loves school and asked if he could go everyday, so I'm taking advantage of his eagerness to learn and signed him up for 4 days this year.  Braedon is in school Monday through Thursday from 12:30 to 3pm. Hallelujah!  Just kidding. Well, kind of;)

Okay, don't make fun of my first day of school pictures.  I was in a rush and Braedon was not cooperating.  At all.  Oh, and doesn't Adi look thrilled?

I didn't even bother with the other battle of trying to get Adi out of the picture.  Believe it or not, this was the best picture I got, and that was after I bribed him with a cookie.

Now on to some kid updates.  Adi turned 2 a couple of weeks ago and she had her well child check up last Monday.  She is clocking in at 28 pounds, and I don't remember how tall she is.  She is a very healthy and a very busy little girl.

Before I get to some more facts, here is a comparison of Baeo and Adi at the same age, just for fun:)

Okay, here we go...

At 2 years old, Adi likes
-doing everything, "by myself"
-picking out her own clothes and pajamas
-playing with her baby dolls, feeding them, and giving them bottles
-shopping with her grocery cart
-cooking me meals in her kitchen and bringing them to me while I workout
-working out with me
-eating popcorn
-going for walks and playing at the park
-watching Little Einstein's, or as she calls it, "pat pat song"
-eating spoonfuls of peanut butter
-pushing her brother's buttons
-singing loudly
-taking showers
-playing on the deck
-playing on my phone
-helping me clean
-swimming
-putting clothes in the washer and dryer and turning them on

Adi loves
-HER BLANKET
-HER THUMB
but only together, not one or the other

Adi dislikes
-not getting what she wants, and then she will let you know
-most vegetables, unless I juice them
-her hair in her face
-getting told no

Adi is now talking a ton and will repeat almost anything you say.  She loves it when you sing songs and then will start to sing along.  She has really started to pretend play and it is so cute watching her tend to her babies and talk on the phone while she is shopping.  She is very motherly and is always trying to help us put on our shoes, comb our hair, etc.  She loves to put makeup on with me in the mornings and always wants a little spritz of my perfume.  She is the sweetest girl with the biggest personality and I could just watch her all day long.

Now, onto Braedon! (side not: must start taking more pictures so I don't have to repost the same ones)

At 4.5 years old Braedon likes.

-racing his cars (also lots of pretend play here)
-coloring
-doing any type of arts and crafts
-playing in the sandbox
-going on trail walks
-riding his bike
-preschool!
-snack plates for lunch (cheese, crackers, fruit...)
-singing
-taking pictures and videos with my camera
-watching movies
-playing soccer
-observing the world around him (pointing out sunsets, showing me different leaves, rocks, etc.)
-pushing his sister's buttons
-sugar
-chai tea
-eating peanut butter by the spoonful
-showing us new "tricks" that he has learned
-going on road trips
-going off roading
-swimming
-cuddling
-putting clothes in the washer and dryer and turning them on

Braedon loves...
-his blanket, teddy, swampy, and tux

Braedon dislikes...
-getting his hair and face washed, still
-having to go to bed
-sitting at the table to eat
-cleaning up his messes

Braedon is such a joy to have around and I love our little conversations and hearing about what is going through that head of his.  He comes up with the most random, but most hilarious stuff I have ever heard.  He will randomly come to me and ask if I want to hear a song and then he will go on and sing every song he knows.  I love it:)  He loves to learn and is always asking questions.  He is very curious about where things are located in the world.  He has a world map on his wall and we often are pointing things out, and he is quite often pointing things out to me.  He is a very active little boy who can hardly sit still, yet he is still my best cuddler.  He has started doing more chores around the house and knows how to clear his plate and put it in the dishwasher, put his clothes away, feed Peyton, steam the hardwoods, and is very good at cleaning up his toys when he is in the mood.  He loves to cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie, which thankfully has branched out to more then Cars.  He is loving soccer and has already gotten so much better at dribbling, kicking, and overall having control over the ball.  Even better, he is not afraid of it!  He can be so sweet and will often come up to me and say, "I'm sorry you had to have surgery, mom."

I'm not going to lie, two kids at ages 2 and 4 is totally chaotic, loud, crazy, busy, tiring...make that exhausting.  Two kids at ages 2 and 4 is also so much fun, entertaining, rewarding, and comical.  I have a love/hate relationship with these ages, but I sure do love my kids and consider myself very blessed and lucky!

Happy Birthday Adilyn Paige!

Yesterday Adi turned two!  She made sure to get the day started early and was up at 6.  Derek got her out of her crib and came back to bed.  When we both came downstairs, all her presents were already open.  Miss Independent, or should I say Miss, "I do myself."

We had a low key day at home with just us and my best friends Jenny and Shelley, followed by Pam, who is pretty much family:)

Post nap snuggles, which are the best, followed by cupcakes!  This year I decided to do that over cake just because it was just us, so I thought a cupcake each would be the perfect amount.

 I picked out 7 different unique flavors from out local cupcake shop, and we split them all up and had a little piece of each.

 Adi wasn't sure what to do with the candles and kept trying to touch them.  She finally blew them out.

 Once the candles were blown out, she obviously knew what to do.

 This girl can down sweets, especially chocolate, like its her job.

 Mmmmm....finger lickin good!

Happy Birthday Adilyn!  You are so loved and such a wonderful addition to our family.  I just can't believe it has already been two years!  The time does fly.

This morning we got up and took the kids to the Seattle Aquarium.

 They loved seeing all the different kinds of fish and touching all the different sea life.

 This age is so much fun!

 They even got to test out some scuba diving equipment, which was hilarious.  Especially when they tried to walk.

We had a great Labor Day weekend filled with relaxation, finishing up house projects that have been lingering, and catching up with good friends!

A little catch up

Oh my.  Just like that and it's been a month and a half since I last posted.  I do have an excuse though, I promise.  I'm one month post second surgery, which was a doozy, but am finally starting to feel somewhat like my old self again.

Pre surgery, we had a very fun 4th of July with a community party, neighborhood party with a ton of awesome fireworks, and a fun trip to Grandma and Grandpa Peterson's house.  I will just leave you with some photos now!

There was a little parade followed by tons of bounce houses and other fun stuff.  The only downer was that on that very first bounce house the kids went on, Baeo decided to jump off the slide and landed on his head, which turned into a trip to the ER and a neck brace.

The day after the fourth, we drove to Kennewick to spend some time with Derek's family.  The kids had a blast, as always.

And just like that, the month of July came and went.  Here are some stats for July...

Number of hours in the OR: 8
Number of emergency room visits: 4
Number of x rays/CT scans: 3
Number of days in the hospital: 10
Number of episodes of Honey Boo Boo while in the hospital: Too many to remember and I think my IQ has dropped significantly.
Number of blood draws: 12
Number of Heparin shots in the stomach to prevent blood clots: 20
Number of catheters put in: 3
Number of ambulance rides: 1

Okay, I'm not complaining, even though it may seem like it.  All I have to say is that July was rough and I really don't want to see another hospital again....until October.

While that was going on, Derek took the kids to see Thomas the train!  Today was the first time I saw the pictures and they sure looked like they had a blast!! Okay, since I wasn't there, your guess is as good as mine as what went on, so I will make up my own story on how I think it went.

Here are the kids so excited to have their Thomas tickets!

Braedon's wondering why they didn't punch it like they did on the Polar Express.

Adi couldn't care less.

Checkin out an old train.

It's Thomas!!  Oh, my gosh it's really Thomas!!!  Oops, I think I just peed a little. (Said Braedon)

Trains!  I wonder how I can break up these tracks and make a complete mess before getting caught. (Thought Adi)

Clown are so not cool anymore.

But Thomas totally is!

Loving the train ride and the wind in my hair.

Drrr.....(okay, when I came across these photos, and there are like 8 of them, I could not stop laughing. Totally at the age where you can not get a regular smile.  Just wait until I bust these out when he's older.)

CHEEEEZZZZEEEE!!!!!!

The fun filled morning ended with some tunes:)

And...that's a wrap folks!

Camping!!!

Okay, we did it!  We had our first camping trip with both kids and spent two nights in a tent.  Everyone survived and everyone had a blast!  When we were trying to figure out what to do last weekend, I had decided to check out my all time favorite camping place, Banks Lake.  I have grown up camping there and ever since I was 4 years old, it was my favorite place to go.  The problem is, this is also everyone else's favorite place too and you usually have to book months in advanced.  It just so happens that we really lucked out and one spot was available.  I jumped right on it!

We got there at about 6 on Friday and got right to setting up camp so we could enjoy the rest of the evening.  After we set up and ate dinner, we played some horse shoes, and dug in the sand.

Braedon loved this game!  He also just loves camping in general.  I think both kids would spend every waking moment outside if they had a choice.  Our first night, a couple little kids were so excited and were pretty chatty.  One little girl was up chatting away at us from her pack n play until 11 pm.  Then she was up and singing at 5 am.  Someone who is used to getting 12-13 hours a sleep a night but only got 6 and then spent the morning playing at the park and playing on the beach will end up looking like this by noon.

She was actually calling for her bed.  Peyton was worn out after a morning of fetch in the water too:)

While Adi napped, Braedon made a new friend.  Another little boy was camping with his family a couple sites over.  Turns out he is also 4, has the same exact bike as Braedon, and the same pajamas.  Once they discovered each other, they practically played together for the rest of the trip.

The rest of us took advantage of the quiet and relaxed:)

On Sunday we got up, relaxed a bit, ate breakfast and then got things packed up.  After we were all packed we went down to the beach for another hour or so and then loaded up and headed home.  Braedon cried when it was time to leave...I consider that a camping success!  We will definitely be back to Banks Lake!