The Foley's

New Baby, New Car

2012-01-31T06:52:00.001-08:00

We have a new baby on the way and now we have a new car...a GMC Acadia! I am beyond thrilled because this has been my dream car since I had to start thinking about getting rid of my Mazda. I seriously can't believe it is sitting in my garage and want to go and drive it daily.

It is the perfect car for us. As much as some people want us to be mini van people, we just couldn't jump on that bandwagon. I just could never picture us driving a mini van and to tell you the truth (in my opinion anyway), the Acadia is pretty much a mini on the inside and a crossover on the outside. So I have the space and the comfort of a mini for our growing family on the inside but still get the non soccer mom feel on the outside. I love it! Really the only drawback is the trunk space but hey, it fits my double stroller and a good amount of groceries so what else do we need?

I was SO sad to see my Mazda go. It was my first official car and given to me as a present from my parents. I was in love with it and for awhile towards the end didn't drive it much because it badly needed an oil change and I pretty much refused to do it. I hate getting my oil changed so I pretty much boycott my car and drive Jonathan's until he gets frustrated that I'm driving his car and goes and changes my oil for me. But let me just tell you, once that oil was changed, I just couldn't have been happier! I loved driving it! I loved everything about it (well...maybe not the cloth seats but everything else). When we were negotiation the new car, Jonathan threw in a clause that we would only have a deal if I got to spend 20 more minutes with my Mazda. It was hard to leave it even if we did upgrade tremendously to the fanciest car I have ever had! It's crazy. I never thought I would get such a fancy car. And I say fancy because that is the exact word that Jackson used to describe our new car. He didn't want to leave the Mazda either. When we pulled into our driveway in our new car, the first words our of his mouth were, " I don't want to leave mommy's car." Precious. We will miss the Mazda but we are sure enjoying "fanciness" of our new ACADIA!

When we started looking for a new car we had a few "must haves" being....leather seats (hence hating the cloth in my Mazda), captain chairs, AWD and if possible a hitch and a DVD. The last two being ones that we could live without or add later if we found the perfect car without them. After looking at all the different crossovers at Carmax we narrowed our search down to the Chevy Traverse, the Acadia, and the Buick Enclave, which are all the same cars just pretty much different names. I have always wanted the Acadia so we settled on that. We started looking at used cars because, hey, we had till July till we actually needed a new car. We ended up finding a really good one at the GMC dealership on Elgin. But of course when we went to check it out, it was sold that morning. Great. So we ended up looking a few Acadias that they had but non had the "must haves" that we wanted. We talked some more to the salesmen and owners and decided to try out for 24 hour a FWD Acadia. After driving this car for 24 hours and talking to some friends about AWD vs FWD we decided that FWD would be enough for us, plus it's a little better on gas. We had to bring this car bad the next day and after some research done by Jonathan, we went in there with a number and decided that we would only buy this car (which had everything we wanted and more) if we could get this price. Long story short, we got it! We weren't looking for a car this early but we just couldn't pass up this good deal. So we drove home our new car that night! Crazy! AND the boys were with us the whole time! They probably just gave us that deal to get us out of there!

Bye my Mazda!

Hello my new Acadia!

The Acadia details:

Diamond white (I pretty much could care less about the color so this is what we ended up with and I'm pretty happy about it!)

Black leather (We originally wanted anything but black but the GMC people reminded us that we have kids and it would hid things better...good point)

DVD

Hitch

FWD

Power lift gate (This is probably my favorite thing about the car! I don't know why, but I'm so excited about just pushing a button and my trunk opening!)

Heated seats

Climate control

A backup camera in the review mirror

On star and Satellite radio (for a bit)

That new car smell

Captain chairs (sooo a must have and I love them! Easy access to the back!)

I'm probably missing something, but like I said Fancy! I'm still getting used to driving such a big car but slowly getting better. It's no fun having a car payment again but our loan is %0 for 72 months so you couldn't get a better loan than that! All in all, we are very happy with our purchase and excited to drive it all the way to Florida this Friday! YAY!

The big brother dance!

2012-01-25T06:28:00.001-08:00

The boys are all smiles for the BIG news!

(Yes, this is Jackson's 'cheese' smile)

Doing a little dance....

And Brayden is even more excited to finally get the title of.....

BIG BROTHER!!!

Yes, we are adding one more baby to the Foley family! We are all beyond thrilled and can't wait to complete our family. We will finally be able to meet this little one at the end of July and so far the baby is doing just great!

I am just over 13 weeks and finally getting back to myself. It was a rough go for a while and it didn't help that those horrible weeks started just around Thanksgiving and ended just after New Years. It was SO fun. We have already had two ultrasounds of this little one and everything is looking good and right on schedule. This poor child is already dealing with the 'third child syndrome' because I just can't, for the life of me, find the ultrasound. I go back to the doctor after our trip to Florida at 17 weeks and then the next appointment is the BIG one! Crazy as it sounds, I'm kinda on the fence about finding out this time. The planner in me NEEDS to find out but as I have said, I would like to hold on to my girl dream as long as I can. It just seems like this one has to be a boy since that is what we do in the Foley family.

Baby Foley #3 @ 12 weeks

(Taken with my phone before I lost them)

I just am in awe on how baby-like our baby looks already. This is the first time I have gotten an ultrasound at 12 weeks and it is crazy to actually see the baby more on the screen but not actually feel anything. The baby was moving like crazy and even hiccuped a few times. I can't believe how well you can see the leg, the foot, and the little hand sticking out by the face.

Brayden=10 months!

2012-01-22T04:41:00.001-08:00

This past month, Brayden...

is starting to talk more. He has always been a loud whiny kid, but now we hear more and more LOUD talking as he is moving and playing. His favorite word is by far "dada" but not directed towards his dad.

he dances to music and will dance when you say dance.

has more and more facial expressions. He is one funny kid and does not like to have his picture taken. Will either turn away and act like he is busy or give me a squished face.

is moving around like crazy. He is gaining confidence daily and will take steps between furniture and people. He has even been know to walk across a room until I think he realizes that he is not holding on to something and will just slowly lower himself down to the ground. His balance is also improving and he stands unassisted all the time now.

he will go up a few stairs and back down but he is no where near doing them all.

he is usually happy with most people after he warms up to the situation. He will not even hesistate to crawl up to someone and use them to stand and walk around.

he is getting more and more interested in toys. Before toys were for throwing onto the ground but now he actually investigates them. He loves to crawl into our ball pit and push cars around on our wood floor. Legos are another favorite, but he seems to just throw those around. By far, anything that he can push is what he usually goes for or anything that Jackson is playing with.

Brayden wears 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers (just because we need to use them up). He pees out of his diaper every night and I had high hopes for last night because we put him in 4s overnight diapers but it still happened. My kids seem to just have this problem!

is understanding the world more and more everyday. He seems more content with the world and how it works. I think he understands more of what I am saying. On the top of my head I know he understands... No (but doesn't always listen), dance, rock, jump, hi, finished, come here, mommy, daddy, Jackson, eat, bottle, and push.

Brayden is getting more content on laps, especially when he is tired. He even sat on my lap for over an hour watching the train movie at the Science and Industry museum.

has a horrible rash on his face. It started by one eye and one side of his nose, spread across his nose and now it seems to be a little under his eyes but mostly under his mouth. The doctor said it is dry skin so we are trying to treat it with Aquafor but it doesn't seem to work. We are limiting baths and wiping his face and now we are limiting the pacifier since I think it traps in his drool and irritates the rash. Now Brayden only gets his pacifier at naps and bed and in the car. He seems to be doing pretty well with this.

as you can see, Brayden loves the bath and splashes all the time. It's his new thing. Too bad he doesn't get baths as much anymore!

Brayden now sleeps with a blanket in his bed and he does pretty well with it. He still sleeps from 7pm to somewhere in the 5s. His naps are getting longer but still two a day.

still 6 teeth and it doesn't seem like any will be coming in soon.

he still loves his brother and gets very mad if Jack leaves a room without him. Brayden will follow Jackson everywhere and wants to always play with him. He often gets abused by Jackson yet he still seems to admire him. He loves to giggle at Jack in the car and reach for his hand.

Brayden still loves to be on the more and exploring new places. He is very independent when we are out and will just go where he pleases let it be play places or open gyms or at someones house.

Brayden is still a great eater. He can eat pretty much anything and likes pretty much everything especially snack foods. He even likes popcorn! He loves meat by far...sausage, chicken, fish, ground meat and his carbs. He is a little more picky with is veggies (not a big fan of carrots) and fruit (it depends on the day). He loves to drink water out of his sippy and loves all dairy products.

He drinks 3-6 oz bottles, has three meals, and eats one snack a day. He gets water all day long.

we are now done with the highchair! I love, love, love it! No more washing trays! He now sits at the breakfast bar in his booster seat and he thinks he is so cool to be sitting like his big brother! The only problem is now he likes to feed the dogs his food. If we tell him no he usually listens but he just loves to share!

another funny thing about Brayden and eating is that when he eats he constantly moans like he is eating the best food ever.

That's our Brady in a nutshell. He is getting happier and happier every day and loving life more and more. We love our Brayden James!

Snowman

2012-01-21T18:46:00.000-08:00

Jackson always wants to be outside. I am usually too much of a chicken to brave the cold but the other day we had a really nice day and there was still some very slushy snow on the ground so it was Jack's lucky day! We took a walk with the dogs and then built our very first snow man.

While we rolled and built, Brayden got a little brave and did a little snow investigation. I always say this but Jack and Brady are SO different. At this age, Jack could have cared less when put in the snow but Brady is not so sure and seems to always whine his way over to me.
Our finished product! Jackson was so proud!

I don't think I've really ever made a snowman and this one is by far not perfect...a little grassy.... but man, those snowballs are heavy. I had to call Jonathan out to help me lift the middle one!

He Brushes!

2012-01-20T18:37:00.000-08:00

After eating a red crayon (and drooling red all down his shirt) AND destroying a wooden puzzle piece with his constant gumming (and using the chewed wood pieces as chewing gum), I decided that he needed his FIRST 6 tooth/gum brush. He surprisingly liked it and I say surprisingly because he usually cries at most new things. He took the toothbrush like he does it every night and started going at it. AND he didn't even really mind when I did the brushing. Not bad.

Really getting into it.

Science and Industry

2012-01-19T18:02:00.000-08:00

We, Jack, Brady, my mom and I, took a little trip to the Science and Industry Museum. I have been wanting to take the kids for quite some time and with today's free day we couldn't pass it up! We were a bit worried about it being too crowded but it actually wasn't! We were so lucky. We saw trains (big and small), baby chicks, BIG tractors, and did some playing as well. The highlight of the day was the Omnimax theater where we saw the Rocky Mountain train movie. If you haven't been to an Omnimax you need to go! It is nothing like a IMAX...it's so much better! The screen completely surrounds you on three sides and you actually feel like you are in the movie. Both kids were entranced the whole time....but surprisingly Brayden more than Jackson.

Jackson, "It's like Harry Potter's train!"

(Now you know what's important in our house...Dad would be proud)

Jack really liked these model trains and it went on and on and on.

The baby chicks. This was the one place Jackson kept asking to actually go back to and Brayden liked it so much he drooled on the window.

The Circus place was pretty cool since Jack is now obsessed with his new circus themed library book.

They have a smaller area that is similar to a children's museum...all hands on stuff. Jackson loved the water area and Brayden just wanted to walk around. Look how old my baby looks sitting on that little chair! Almost 10 months!Riding the cow

Riding the cow and....
driving the HUGE tractor in the farm area!

We spent a total of 4 hours at the museum and we were going the whole time. Jackson and Brayden did amazing and it gives me hope for Disney and the cruise! Brayden was mostly content in the stroller looking around and moving and Jackson was so interested and excited about everything....and it was a nice day to spend with my mom! Though I have to mention that at dinner tonight when asked what he did at the museum Jackson's answered that he ate ice cream.

He walks...kinda.

2012-01-16T16:22:00.000-08:00

Over the past few weeks Brayden is becoming better and better at walking. His confidence is growing as he takes steps between furniture and people. He loves to push his walking toy around our house until he is stopped by a wall and then just walks around to the other side of his walker and pushes it back. He will walk all day if he could. Brayden also loves to walk holding just one of our hands. His balance is impressive! Today, Brayden surprised us as we were cleaning up dinner by just standing UNASSISTED next to a toy box for almost a minute! We were in awe! The little things...

Here is a short video of Brayden taking some steps. He is slowly adding more and more steps every day! We just might have a walker when we go on our cruise in a month!

Even though we have been through this amazing process with Jackson, it is just as amazing the second time around! We couldn't be prouder of our little guy's achievements!

SNOW DAY

2012-01-12T14:55:00.001-08:00

Snow day has a totally different meaning these days. Long are the days dreading the drive or getting off school. Now we look forward to the snow and love playing outside in it. Even if it takes us just as long to get ready as it does playing in it. And for some reason I LOVE shoveling. It is just so therapeutic to me.

Fat baby in a little coat.

Don't you love my makeshift snowsuit?

A quick shot before the playing began.
Hiding from the camera. Jackson loved making foot prints, making snowballs, covering things with snow, making snow piles and just playing around in the snow...but not shoveling.

I didn't know how waterproof his outfit was so Brady spent most of the time in the wagon watching me shovel. He seemed pretty content and cried when we came inside.

My snow bunny.

On a side note, before Jack's nap, Jack and I were talking about playing in the snow after his nap. He wanted to make sure that I was aware that he wanted to play outside BY HIMSELF. Where did my baby go?

Monthly photo shoot-9 months

2012-01-11T07:50:00.000-08:00

Two and a half weeks late...seems to be my theme lately but I'm getting more into the swing of things as the days pass. Even with it being a late 9 month photo shoot, he is still 9 months and that's what counts.

All smiles and showing off his bottom teeth.

And then we got a little rowdy...

"Humm....what are these really white things down there?"

"What? Did you say bottle?"

"Is my bottle down there?"

"Maybe it's behind the chair?"

'Where is that bottle?" said after falling off the chair...

Rewind.

2012-01-08T11:20:00.001-08:00

I missed blogging a lot in the month of December. Among other things, the craziness of the holidays put a lot of things on hold. Now it is time to rewind and look back at our crazy month.

I celebrated my 29th birthday! It was fun to have a partner to blow out the candles!

We had our 'first' snow...if you can call it that. It was just enough to cover the ground, but non the less, Jackson COULD NOT WAIT to get outside. We all bundled up and headed out. Brayden and I didn't last long so we soon came inside and watched Jackson make snow prints and push his lawnmower around in the snow. He could have stayed outside all day except his hands got cold because he refused to wear gloves-it just was too restrictive. Ha.

Jackson enjoying his first snow of the year!

Brayden watching his brother play.My mom, Jackson, Brayden (sort of) and I made Christmas cookies one day. We started when the boys took their naps and then they 'helped' after they woke up! And when I say 'helped' I mean they helped by eating them! It was a fun afternoon!

Chocolate covered pretzels! Yum!

Messy, messy!

We always exchange gifts with Tyler Ubert. It was extra exciting this year because Brayden could join in and it was actually his very FIRST present ever! He did his best but lost interest really fast.
Tyler gave Jack a the most adorable doctors set. The immediately got started examining each other!

Jackson has been all about make believe, bad vs good guys and 'getting' people. He will chase the dogs around the house and then capture them (usually Bella) with his 'nets' a.k.a blankets and pillows. It just cracks me us because Bella is such a good sport and will just stay there for hours if covered! She has even been forgotten about and found literally an hour later still covered up! What a good doggy!

Believe it or not, Bella is under there with her face under the pillow. Does Jack look proud or what for capturing the 'bad' guys?!

Yep. There are three pillows covering her face...

Christmas Day-Foley Style

2012-01-04T06:54:00.000-08:00

I was horrible, as always, with taking pictures during all of our Christmas festivities. I probably took a total of 7 pictures the whole weekend and most of our Christmas pictures came from Brad and Kristen and Carissa. Thanks guys!

Christmas day was super exciting! We spent the whole day with the Foley side and everyone was super generous. Our first stop was Kathy's for an amazing brunch and some pretty impressive present opening. No pictures were taking during this even since it is quite chaotic!

Our Christmas Day picture

All the Foley Cousins!

Grandma with our two trouble makers

Everyone was so generous. The boys got some clothes, new toys, legos, a sleeping pad (made by Carissa and I) and a new stocking for Brayden. PLUS an overstuffed stocking full of fun stuff! Below is a picture of the kids loving their sleeping pads. It was a quite perfect arrangement. The kids opened their sleeping pads last and loved them. Immediately took them into the other room to watch a movie leaving us adults to open our gifts in peace! Jonathan got some new seat covers for his Jeep, which he immediately went and installed and I got some new jewelry and clothes.

Brayden even fell asleep on Jonathan since we didn't have a pack n play or a crib for him! A Christmas miracle!

From there we headed home to let the dogs out and to drop off and pick up some presents. I can't confirm or deny that naps among most were taken, before we headed to Papa Foleys for our last festivity! Spoiled once again. The stocking BAG was a present in itself and the boys got some little people sets from Grandma Janet and Papa Foley. Then for the surprise of the day! The Puccinis MADE each kid their very own Adirondack chair...from scratch! They are AMAZING! I need to get a picture of them sitting in them and post it soon! What an amazing Christmas and a great start to 2012!

My favorite Santa!

The three little ones in their Christmas pjs! They are getting so big!

It was definitely a crazy and busy Christmas but we are so fortunate for such an amazing family to share they craziness with! Our kids are so loved!

Christmas Morning

2012-01-03T06:22:00.000-08:00

We came home Christmas eve and got our cookies out for Santa. Then we had a bit of a meltdown when we told Jackson that our elf, Jingle, has to go back to the North Pole with Santa when he came that night. Well, our boy Jackson was not too happy about that. He gave us some great crocodile tears but we did eventually get him to say good bye to Jingle and I think he understands that he will be coming back to our house next Christmas.

Christmas morning was a mad rush at our house. We had to eat breakfast, shower, get dressed, open presents, finish up wrapping some presents, and cook a bit of food all before 9! Good thing our kids get us up bright and early! We actually ended up leaving before our scheduled time, with the help of Brayden not really taking his morning nap.

Jackson was super excited to see all the presents under the tree and Brayden could really care less. Jackson didn't want to open any other present than his dragon from Santa. He kept saying, "which one is the dragon?" It just so happened that the very last present was actually his dragon. He was SO excited!

A cute picture before the opening began.

Jonathan giving the girls their Christmas present! They loved their bones and chewed on them all morning!

Jonathan trying to get Brayden to open at least one of his presents. What happend to 'kids this age just love the wrapping paper?' Not Brayden. He just wanted to move.

Jacksons DRAGON!The boys got some shoes, clothes, a car garage for their new toy cars, some art stuff, a new towel for Brayden, some legos, some dress up outfits, and a transformer that is almost even too hard for Jonathan to play with (but he HAD to get one for Jack). The dragon was by far Jack's favorite, but is beginning to be my least favorite. He wants to play dragon and knight ALL THE TIME.

Christmas Eve

2012-01-01T11:54:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve is the big day at the Heil house. Jackson was pumped to get over there to see if the reindeer ate the carrots and we were excited for another packed day with family.

How could your Christmas not be merry with that smile?

Loving me some Adelyn! Addie had three outfit changes that day, this tutu being her first 'morning' outfit.

Hi! Brad and Kristen finally caught Brayden's 'cool' non-wave hi on camera!
And the traditions begin. To start the day we read the story of baby Jesus. It talks about his birth and that today is his birthday. Then Jackson and my mom go and find all the hidden baby Jesus' around the house and put them in their appropriate mangers.

THEN, we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and blow out the candle on the cake (this year being a muffin).

THEN, my mom reads the card that Rudolf writes and brings to each kid. This was a tradition of ours when we were younger that all started when one year all I asked for was a letter from Rudolf and the tradition continues.

Jackson's letter.

Brayden's letter.

And finally presents! The kids were spoiled as always. Brayden got books, a helicopter with balls, some clothes, an interactive soccer ball, a puzzle, and more! Jackson got a whole new wardrobe, some art supplies, 3 Poingo books and the pen (this is a really cool interactive book), and a whole dress up knight outfit complete with sword, shield, homemade helmet, and puppet dragon! It was a hit to say the least.

Brayden and his song book.

I (and Carissa) made Addie a sleeping mat. She is a little young for it but showed us that she knows what to do. She immediately put her head down and took a little rest.

Knight Jackson fighting his dragon.

Next came naps and a very peaceful adult brunch. Then came stockings and church. The boys went in the nursery and loved it! Jackson cried when we came to pick him up to bring him back for communion and the last song with the candles, Silent Night.

We then came home and took some family pictures had a light dinner and the kids opened their stockings. The presents just seemed never ending! It was a fantastic day with the Heil's and Hoffmans!

Our family picture attempt.

The ever growing Heil family!

The three cousins!

And it begins...

2012-01-01T11:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2o11 was a marathon of food, family and presents! Not only was Christmas day (Sunday) packed full but so was Christmas Eve (Saturday) and Christmas Eves Eve (Friday). We were no stop but made it through with smiles on our faces (most of the time), even with all of us getting the dreaded cold at some point during the weekend.

Friday, Christmas Eves Eve, started our festivities. The Hoffmans made it into town late the nigth before and we were super excited to get over my parents to see them. We spent the day at the Heil's hanging out, going shopping kid free, eating a wonderful Christmas dinner and the adults opening presents.

Adelyn and Brady sharing some Cheerios. They were too cute together and I loved watching them interact. Brayden taught Addie to crawl and I sure hope Addie taught Brayden to chill out a bit. Addie is SO easy going and just an all around happy baby. Definitely the complete opposite of our two boys. We just walk into the room and you can feel the energy level rise to an uncontrollable level. We need more Addies to calm it down a bit. :)

Jack showing Addie some cousin love.

My mom is always so good at starting (and keeping) traditions. More on that later, but this year she started a new one with Jackson and the other two can join in next year. Santa came to the Heil house one day early so the night before he came, Jackson and my mom hung carrots in the backyard for the reindeer. Jackson thought it was so cool and was even more excited to come back the next morning and see that some of the carrots were eaten (thanks to my dad).

Jackson waiting patiently for dinner to start. The funny thing is, he is the first to sit down and want to eat and then is the first to be done and want to leave.

Getting a little curious while waiting. He didn't know Brad was watching him try to blow out the candles.

My parents who made the two day Heil Christmas marathon just perfect!

On to presents. The adults opened most of their presents that evening because the next day (Christmas Eve) was way to packed to get it in...and it was! We gave my parents Blackhawks tickets and as always, my parents were more than generous. I got a day at Lifetime Fitness complete with child care, a massage, pool time and some time with my mom! I can't wait to pick a date!

The kids and the tree.

This picture just cracks me up! Jack, trouble as usual, trying on my mom's new yoga shirt and then there's Addie, just chilling in the background.
I think Brady was tired and sick because he chilled with PaPa for quite a bit! And you all know, this NEVER happens. He is an on-the-go kid!

Next post, Christmas Eve at the Heil's! I know, I told you it was a Marathon!

Brayden is 9 months!

2011-12-22T07:40:00.000-08:00

This past month has been absolutely crazy. Not only did Brayden celebrate Thanksgiving, my birthday, and a few Christmas festivities, but he has really taken off! Brayden has learned how to crawl (the real thing) and is all over the place! He is a much happier baby now that he can actually get to the places he wants to go!

Here is what Brayden has been up to....

He is an eating machine. He will pretty much eat anything, but to Brayden's style, will only eat them in the order he wants to eat them. For example, he could have a plate full of food but will whine till Cheerios are poured on his plate. Then he would eat a few and then go back to his regular food. He does this too with his water. He will not eat one more bite until he gets that sip. He is really into blueberries, chicken nuggets, Cheerios (still) and cheese. He also loves sausage in the morning.

He is still our early bird. Getting up in the 5s. He takes a total of 3-3.5 hr naps during the day but the length of his two naps vary daily.

He loves to drink water and now can drink his bottle sitting up. Very convenient when needing to drink his bottle on the go in the car.

Brayden knows the word no, and will listen most of the time.

He can clap and way hi. Well, his wave is just a too cool hand in the air. There is no waving involved. He also loves to give hi fives and will giggle like crazy when we give him one or two.

Brayden LOVES to cruise the walls and will walk around our entire house just using the walls, going in and out of the bathroom to do it!

He also LOVES to push things. We don't really have a baby walker but he will use anything that moves and push it around the house. He gets very frustrated when he runs into a wall and can't push it anymore, but has learned in the past few days to move around to the other side and just put it back to where he came from.

He is a crawler. Carissa and I took the boys to the pool a few weeks back and they both pretty much left the pool crawling. I need to remember that for next time when I want to encourage crawling and not army crawling. He likes to crawl and is getting pretty fast at it, but will choose cruising over crawling any day.

Brayden doesn't mind the car and will often watch is big brother Jackson. I also have found them holding hands in the back seat.

He still takes 4 bottles a day but often does not finish his middle of the day bottles.

He doesn't like to take pictures. He is too busy now!

He can entertain himself for much longer periods of time now that he can crawl and seems to be more interested in toys.

Brayden has a new name...babyzilla. He loves to destroy the train table, among other things.

He is a WHINER! He is just a loud kid and will whine all day long, no matter what.

Brayden's 9 month appointment went smoothly. He just has a lot of dry skin around his nose and eyes so we need to keep an eye on that. He got one shot and had a very delayed cry but it didn't last long. He is meeting all his milestones and is doing just great!

Brayden's Weight: 19 lbs 7 oz (33%)

Brayden's Height: 29 1/2 in (95%)

Head: 95%

That's what our tall and skinny boy has been up to the past month! As always, we love him and just can't imagine our lives with out this little boy that brings a lot of noise (and love) to our family.

Santa!

2011-12-07T17:35:00.000-08:00

This year Santa has become more real to Jackson. We have been talking about him and then we finally went to meet him and ask him for a gift. Up till the day we went, Jackson was going to ask Santa for a plane but then last minute changed his mind to dragons and has been sticking to it. Hopefully Santa can come through....dragons are hard to find.

The yearly Santa picture.

Jackson was in awe with Santa and actually told him what he wanted when Santa asked him and Brayden didn't really seem to mind him....this year....

As we have done every year, we went to see Santa with the Uberts. Here is Jack and Tyler checking out their height compared to the polar bear. They have a lot of growing to do.

They let you into the 'snow room' right before you meet Santa. Why? They were covered with all this fake snow that was impossible to take off. But hey, they had fun.

Brayden tolerating the 'snow.'

We also have to note that this year Jingle the elf made his appearance at our house. Jackson enjoys finding Jingle every morning and we love to remind Jackson that Jingle is watching him and reporting back to Santa at night!

Jack is 2.5!

2011-12-04T06:24:00.000-08:00

Jackson is 2 1/2! Boy how time flies when you are a kid. He seems older (and smarter) by the day! We love him to pieces and he never fails to make us laugh on a daily basis. Seriously, how could it get any better than this?!?

At 2 1/2 Jackson....

LOVES: Dragons, dinosaurs, trains, cars, bugs, eating (sweets and snacks), holding his brother's hand, playing with his dad, being outside, playing doctor, babies (real and fake), watching movies or shows (his favorite being Curious George,The Cat in the Hat and Super Why), playing on the IPOD, swimming and taking a bath, helping us with anything we do, walking Bella and hunting for dragons on our walk, playing monster when he gets out of the bath, daddy's car, playing hide and seek, and the word WHY? Oh how he loves to ask "Why?" over and over and over and over.

EATS: BALONEY AND CHEESE. If he could have this at any and all meals he would be one happy camper. He also loves all breakfast food and is lately into breakfast burritos. He is slowing enjoying more vegetables and will eat cucumbers, carrots and cauliflower. He loves all sweets and snacks especially fruit snacks. He would drink milk all day and can't go to be without his water. Dinner is still not his meal and most nights only takes a few bites.

SLEEPS: From about 7/730pm to around 6ish in the morning. He take a nap every day for about 2 hours but has been known to play in his bed before naps for over an hour. He can go without a nap and would want to every day. We are not ready for that yet. He still does not get out of his bed and will call for us in the morning or wait quietly until we come and check on him.

IS GETTING SMARTER: He knows the whole ABCs and can recognize all the letters and most of the sounds. He can count to 20 but will always leave 19 out. He knows most of his colors (he gets black and brown mixed up) and knows what a circle is and maybe a few others? He is starting to color more in the lines but can't cut with scissors. He LOVES books and wants us to read and read and read to him every night. We pick out books from the library every week and recently they have been dragon books. He really wants to go to school but I think it is partly because he thinks he will be riding a school bus there. He knows what a stop sign is and knows to stop at red lights and go at green. He is becoming more and more aware of things and places we have been and will often tell me that we have been there before or that he likes that place. Most of the time in the car he will point a direction and tell me that we need to go that way to the place we are going. Most of the time he is right!

ATTITUDE: Jackson is mostly a very happy kid. He will always tell me that "he likes this place" or " that (insert food/toy/person) is my favorite." He absolutely adores his brother and wants to play with him all day long. He loves to go and get Brayden when he wakes up from his nap and it is so fun to walk in Brayden's room and see them just having fun together (Jackson is often jumping in Brayden's crib and Brayden is just going along for the ride). He will give us kisses and hugs when we ask him for one and always wants to snuggle up on our laps when watching a show or movie. He is the most outgoing little boy. He will go up to anyone and talk to them and tell them that Brayden is his brother. He is so proud! He is known to go out to people that I know and that he has just met and sit on their lap and give them a hug. He loves all kids and will seek out playmates anywhere. He loves to have play dates with friends and looks forward to them now. Just recently Jackson has started to defy us a little more. He will tell us no and will definitely let us know when he doesn't like things. We have had a few meltdowns when trying to leave somewhere but this has happened when he was tired. He knows where timeout is and will go there when you say timeout to him. Although he loves his brother, he does often hit him and push him down, among other things, but will often run up to tell us right away and then off he goes to time out. The other day I walked by and he told me that he stepped on Brayden's hand and began to show me. Off to time out he went, not understanding why that was a bad thing to do. After his timeout I told him that that hurts Brayden and he asked "why?" I said, "do you want me to show you?" And he said yes and I stepped on his hand. He was not too happy about that but I don't think he will be stepping on any more hands lately.

HATES: Taking pictures (unless its with Brayden), eating veggies, eating dinner, dark rooms, sitting still, taking naps, and not being able to play with his brother because he got in trouble.

I don't have many pictures of Jackson because that is one of the things that he hates but here are a few recent ones.

Jack helping me celebrate my 29th birthday!

Jack and his pal Tyler waiting to see Santa.

He sure does love his brother!

I had to throw this one is since this is something that he does ALL the time. He loves to hold baby hands and he l0ves to put them up by his mouth. Don't ask me why but this is something he has done since we brought Brady home. He has yet to bite them. I think he is just trying to kiss them?

His smile. Always with his eyes closed. A problem he gets from his mom.

This is an example of most of the pictures I try to take of Jack these days. Angry faced or trying to cover up his face because he hates his picture taken.

Jackson on a warmer day.

Well, that's our big guy at 2.5! It is so amazing how much he learns every day and how happy he is in his little world! We are sure proud of him and love him more and more! How did we get so lucky?

29 before 30

2011-12-01T07:15:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day of the last year in my 20s! Not only is it my birthday, it is my sister Kristen's too! We have shared every birthday together and so much more, but this past year was extra special because we shared having our little miracles together. It was so fun being pregnant and having our kids only 10 days apart! I will miss giving her a hug on her birthday but we both know that I will give her a nice wake up call at 6:10AM (my time!) to be the first to wish her Happy Birthday the minute she turns 29! Happy Birthday Kristen!

A few weeks before we met our little nuggets

Kristen with my newest love bug.

And me with her little love bug!

To celebrate my LAST year in the 20s I have put together a list of things I want accomplish before I hit that big milestone in my life....30!

1. Hopefully have another little miracle....maybe a girl this time?
2. Run a half marathon. This one might be hard if #1 happens.
3. Find the perfect new car.
4. Learn to knit.
5. Read 12 books and read every night before bed.
6. Turn the tv off for a whole month. This will most likely happen in the summer.
7. Organize my Ipod and listen to music more often.
8. Take the dogs for a walk everyday for a whole month (which will hopefully start a habit)
9. Paint all the trim in the house. (I know this is a no fun one, but I will feel MUCH better after it is done.)
10. Join a farm share.
11. Redecorate one room in my house....possibly the dinning room?
12. Pray.
13. Do something out of my comfort zone...TBD.
14. Visit one place on my travel TO-DO list.
15. Make two DIY projects a month...probably should start to make a list for this one...
16. Complete my very own Project 365 book (which very well might turn into Project 52).
17. Date my husband every month...just the two of us.
18. Plan Brayden's 1st birthday.
19. Create a family mission statement and hang it in our home.
20. Go one month without being negative. Think positive! I'm going to be YES girl!
21. Friends Friday!
22. Get dressed everyday for a month...hair, makeup, the whole shebang! Make it a habit?
23. Have our family portraits taken.
24. Do one special thing for my kids everyday.
25. Vist the Hoffmans in Colorado!
26. Be healthy. Fit is not a destination, its a way of life.
27. Start a new holiday tradition every holiday.
28. Visit my Grandma Heil in Georgia.
29. ????? (any suggestions?)

There you have it! Maybe when I complete one, I'll repost it checked off and with a little story just to keep me honest. Here's to my last year in my 20s!!

Crib Standing

2011-11-29T18:35:00.000-08:00

It happened. And it keeps happening. Brayden has discovered he now can stand in his crib. Not a big deal you say? Ohhhh quite the opposite. Now nap/bed time has gone from gently placing him on his belly and then sleep (maybe a few whines here and there) to gently placing him on his belly and then silence and then crying. We then find him standing in his crib crying for his pacifier that he has now thrown out of his crib. It is a fun game. We are lucky that at the moment there is only one round of this and after we put him down on his belly again, he gets the idea that he needs to go to sleep. He is a standing maching lately. He LOVES it!

This kid absolutely loves to stand. He will prefer it over any and all things. He now is getting pretty good at cruising and will cruise over crawling any day. Brayden has recently started to scale the walls and move along a room. He is still a very noisy mover and I mostly have learned to block it out, but it always surprises me that when I look up he is across the room. Will he ever decide to crawl?

My two loves. It would be a perfect picture if Jack could just OPEN HIS EYES!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-27T17:13:00.000-08:00

We were lucky to have four Thanksgiving events this week. It started last Sunday with Jonathan's mom's Thanksgiving and ended today at Jonathan's dads. Here is a little recap...

Kathy's Thanksgiving

It was the biggest and craziest. Here is where Brayden had his first taste of meat. He didn't love it but he didn't hate it. His meal also included sweet potatoes, mac and cheese, and a biscuit.

Yum!

Brayden sure loves his water. He drinks it like his dad...tons of it and often.

Brayden and his cousin, Dylan, having some fun together. I think Dylan just wants to climb up on anything.

Heil Thanksgiving

It was very low key. It took place at my house, but that is about all that I did. My parents brought over most of the food and did most of the cooking. The boys took really long naps and pretty much woke up when we were ready to eat.

Gigi and Papa with Brayden on his first Thanksgiving

More turkey!

Jackson and his Thanksgiving meal. He pretty much wanted nothing to do with it but definitely perked up for ice cream and some of the sweet potato pie Gigi made.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Foleys!

Foley Thanksgiving

We had our last Thanksgiving today at John and Janet's. It started out with the most amazing brunch I have had in a long time and ended with Subway sandwiches. As much as I love Thanksgiving food, it was a nice change of pace. We crashed at their house for most of the day and it was easy because the kids were entertained for most of the time and we got to relax a bit.

Our annual Foley Family Thanksgiving picture.

Happy Thanksgiving! We are so thankful for our family and friends, our health, and of course, you! We have sure been blessed in 2011!!!

Ocho! (months, that is...)

2011-11-21T12:20:00.000-08:00

Brayden Jame is 8 months! Time is just flying by. He still is keeping us on our toes but when he is happy, he is HAPPY! He has the best smile, and we can always get him to giggle by tickling him or when Jackson blows raspberries on his naked belly. My favorite time of day is when he wakes up and he first sees me. I always get the biggest smile and his legs and arms are going 100 miles per hour.

Here is the latest with Brayden...

He is an average sleeper. He will take 2 (sometimes 3) naps a day, one being 2 hrs and the other a little bit shorter. He goes to bed at 7ish and sleeps till sometimes in the 5s. We were having a hard time with the time change for a bit waking up in the 4s, but I hope we are past that stage.

He loves to be held and never likes to be alone. We can sometimes sneak out of the room but if he sees us it is all over. He is now also getting upset when anyone leaves the room, let it be Jackson or his aunt or anyone. I hope this gets better as his crawling gets better.

Brayden's first reaction to anything is crying. It is not fun, but Jonathan and I are beginning to let him know that it is not ok but telling him no and shhhhing him. If we catch him early enough he mostly calms down.

Brayden loves his brother and Jackson still loves playing with him. It is so cute when the interact in the car. Just today, I learned that Jackson can now reach Brayden and hold his hand. And we all know that Jackson loves to hold hands. He also sings and talks to Brayden, which Brayden just loves.

He is getting better at army crawling and has taken a few crawls on all fours. More often than not he whines while he crawls. I just think he is frustrated he can't get to what he wants fast enough. But in more exciting news, we have now caught him a few times starting to explore by himself. One time he actually crawled out of a room looking for me. It's been a long time coming!

Brayden loves to stand and is improving every day. He will cruise around the furniture but his favorite game of all time is to drop something while he is standing and then reaching down and picking it up again and again. He will sometimes just lean down to touch the floor if he doesn't have a toy to play with. I think he just thinks he is so cool when he does it.

Brayden now is eating anything that we eat and three meals a day. He still gets four bottles a day.. morning (8oz), night (8oz) and two 6 oz after naps. He often doesn't finish one of his midday bottles. Some foods that Brayden has had include: cheese, yogurt, all veggies, all fruits, toast with jelly, turkey, noodles, mac and cheese, and different crackers.

Brayden's all time favorite food is CHEERIOS! He will eat those all day if he could. And he is actually quite when he eats, so it is definitely my go to when I need a little peace in my house.

He loves water and can use a sippy cup without assistance.

Brayden usually wears size 12 months clothes and size 3 diapers.

He still loves the car and is the quietest he is all day when we are driving.

He cannot or will not sleep anywhere other than his crib. He will sleep in the car but the minute we stop he wakes up. I am very thankful, though, that he will transfer to his crib and go back to sleep. I have yet to see him fall asleep in the stroller and will occasionally fall asleep in someones arms if he is really, really tired.

His favorite toys include, Sophie the giraffe, cars, balls, and anything that he can stand and hold.

Brayden is beginning to like his jumper and can really get going in it.

He is in a big boy car seat for almost a month now and loves to sit in carts and in high chairs when we are out.

Brayden gives open mouth kisses when I ask and pucker up. He definitely does lean in for a kiss.

Brayden loves the bath and the pool but now just wants to stand up in the tub so his baths are getting shorter and shorter.

Brayden has four teeth, and I think he is on his way to getting two more. The top middle two!

Brayden is now attempting to climb up stairs. He made it up the first few stairs (under our watch) and then wasn't quite sure what to do next.

He loves his pacifier and will use it all day. He is just so loud in general that I have no problem letting him use it to just quiet him down.

He knows his name and will turn to you when you say it.

Happy 8 months Brayden! You bring so much love into this house and we cherish every smile you give us! So excited to see where month 9 will take you! We love you!

November Swim

2011-11-18T12:24:00.001-08:00

It's November and we went swimming not once, but twice this week! The boys LOVE the water and I love that it is pretty shallow (for the most part) and there are life guards. All of this makes it very manageable to bring two kids to the pool, especially one that has absolutely no fear of the water and always manages to make his way across the entire pool from me. I also LOVE that they both take amazing naps after their swimming sessions.

We met Jen and Tyler in Arlington Heights for their tot swim. Jackson and Tyler had fun going down the slide. Good thing Jen snapped this picture before we went to the pool since the boys were in constant movement once their little feet hit the water.
Then we met up with April and her twins Parker and Gen in Elgin. We have a pass there for the winter and I know we will probably be going just about every week!

Gen and Jackson enjoying the slide.

Parker and Jack kept busy playing with the water toys.

Brayden spent most of the time in my arms or being pulled through the water, but when he did get a moment to sit, he just loved the water.

The gang all playing together in the shallow end.

Brayden finally got a hold of a toy!

All done and ready for a long nap!

Reese's fifth birthday festival

2011-11-17T05:51:00.000-08:00

Reese's 5th birthday was a hit. It was the first party that Jackson actually understood what the whole thing was about. It was also the first party that we actually felt comfortable letting Jackson just roam and knew he wouldn't get into too much trouble. I can't wait till all our kids have this freedom...we have awhile...

The festival/carnival/circus came complete with games, cotton candy, a face painting/balloon making lady, prizes and all the carnival food you could ask for. We were entertained all night and were the last to leave!

The newest 5 year old and the balloon lady.

Jackson asking for his favorite thing...a sucker! Not sure why he got one, though.

Just look at the crowd of kids! Reese is sure loved!

My Godson, Blake!

Avery playing bozo buckets.

Jackson has been obsessed with dragons and it couldn't be more perfect that he got a dragon on his face! He was SO happy!

Nate and Jackson were dragon twins!

Jackson showing off his dragon moves.

Avery the cute bear.

And finally, Reese here is opening our present to her. It was a hit, to say the least. I can't take all the credit. Jenny told me what to get and I just added a little twist....some make up. Perfect for Reese, maybe not for the parents involved. But that's what aunts are for, right?

Keeping our LONG (and dark) nights busy

2011-11-12T10:49:00.000-08:00

Since the time change our days have become LONG. Brayden likes to get up in the 4s and Jackson usually in the 5s! I can deal with Jackson's early rising because we usually are up anyway to get in a workout but there is no way I'm getting Brayden out of his crib until I see a 5 on the clock BUT that doesn't mean that he isn't awake.... and I'm awake. He first wakes up happy (and with me now being a mommy sleeper, I am awake) then after about 20-30 minutes of happy talk, the whining starts. I usually go in around then to pop in the pacifier but has it ever worked, nope. Then we play the 10 minute game, you know, the one where he cries for a bit then I go in and turn him on his belly and give him his pacifier AGAIN and this happens over and over until I see a 5 on the clock and nicely nudge my sleeping husband to get up with him so I can have a few minutes of trying to go back to sleep before we start our workout around 530. I am just at a loss of what to do about this...but this charade makes our days really long.

So when the clock hits 5PM I try my darn hardest to have dinner on the table to Jonathan HAS to stop working. He loves his job and will work all night if I let him but the kids want to see/play with him and I need a few hours shared kiddo time. We have a routine for our evening family hours and I often wonder how other families spend their night together. I know this routine will change very quickly when the kids are in school and have activity after activity, so I am trying to enjoy it while it lasts. After we eat the yummy and elaborate (ha) dinner that I made and we have cleaned up, we usually just play. Jackson is thrilled to have someone other than his mom to play with, so Jonathan usually does the playing and I usually do the holding/entertaining of Brayden. Sometimes we try to switch things up by actually going out of the house at night for a walk or an errand but only if we are feeling crazy! Then we usually do a bath and the kids are in bed around 7ish. The nights now seem even longer because it gets dark so early and we are trying so hard to think of things to do but we usually just end up spending our time playing. Though, we have to admit our nights sometimes consists of movie and popcorn time and the recent favorite of Jackson is How to Train Your Dragon.

Here are some other ways we tried to keep busy at night...

We took a trip to the mall and the boys played on the trucks and cars.

Jonathan thought it would be a good idea to actually PAY for one of the rides. Two things wrong with that. 1) Now Jackson will always ask for money to ride one. 2) About 2 seconds after the $1 ride started Jackson wanted to get off.

The brothers play together. It usually first starts out nice...

Then Jackson wants to hug his brother...

And then Brayden gets Jackson back by tackling him.

We try to play on all three levels of our house to keep things interesting. We were playing trains one night (which I have recently learned that trains are Jonathan's least favorite thing to do) while Brayden was playing with his reflection.

I recently found my craft box from my teaching days and found these beads. Thanks, again, to Pinterest we now are practicing our fine motor skills by threading the beads on the stick and we throw in some color recognition too.

Jackson's concentration face.

"I did it!"

We made a sun catcher turkey for our window (can you guess what the body of the turkey is made from?) and sun catcher leaves for the grandparents. I think they turned out pretty darn cute. Jackson loved painting with glue and throwing on globs of tissue paper. Another Pinterest find...I'm a little obsessed!

Jackson loves to play hid and seek. He loves to find his dad who is usually the one hiding, but still needs help with the concept of looking for places that they really could actually be hiding in. However, most of all, Jackson loves to be the one hiding, but it is always really easy to find him. He ALWAYS hides in the exact same place where he just found the hider. I think we need to work on our creativity.

That pretty much sums up the evenings in the Foley house. It is just the begining of the winter and we are already going stir crazy! Got any good ideas that we can add to our list!?!

Happy November!

2011-11-03T16:55:00.000-07:00

I don't think most people are actually happy that their calenders say November. The beauty of fall is over, it is going to get MUCH colder, and Christmas just seems to far away to get me excited. BUT the beginning of November hasn't been too bad. The first two days of November were beautiful and unexpected. Today not so much...colder and rainy, but Brayden and I got outside yesterday to get some leave pictures. I have been waiting and waiting for our leaves to turn and fall but nothing. We have had a little action in the past few days but I knew the rain was coming so I had to deal with the little pile that Jonathan graciously raked for us.

Brayden-his hair helps him fit right in. :)

Brayden is a crawler. He can, and I emphasise the CAN, crawl when he wants to. It's an army crawl but he would much rather whine and get moved by me when I just can't take it anymore. He is the loudest crawler I know. He is just noisy in general, but when on his belly, he just doesn't stop whining! I just looove it. He is actually really good at it but gives up really easily after about two or three push/pulls. Brayden is also starting to pull up on things, but often needs a tiny bit of assistance, however, today the boys were in the bath and the next thing we know, he was standing! I just think that is the craziest (and hardest considering the slippage factor) place to pick for his first official stand! But there he was. I think we was a little surprised too!

Jackson still loves his brother. He will not ever hesitate to stop what he is doing to tell anyone that Brayden is his brother. The other day he ran halfway down the sidewalk yelling "that is my brother" to our neighbors who were playing with him. It is so darn cute. Jackson also still loves to play with Brayden but he is beginning to realize that he actually needs to share with him and take turns. The other day we were all riding the giraffe and when Brayden was taking his turn Jackson would go over in the corner or climb on the couch and start to pout. I would look over and his head would be down with a pout on his face and he would not hesitate to tell me that he was sad. When it was Jack's turn again, he would pop right up and take his turn. It's all totally an act, and I know we should work on expressing his emotions without pouting but it is so darn funny to me. Here are the boys when Jackson decided he wanted to share his turn with Brayden. They both just love each other so much!

Look at that guy! He just loves to stand! We winterized the garage and backyard the other day and I decided to clean up and bring in the walker. Jackson loved this when he was Brady's age and I'm hoping it will keep Brayden's attention this winter. The only difference is that Jackson loved to be in the walker and Brayden just wants to stand behind it and walk with it a bit.

Thanksgiving is often over looked in many homes, including ours but this year I decided to make sure that Jackson had a little bit of Thanksgiving in the month of November. We made a Thanksgiving turkey and Jackson tells us at dinner every night what his is thankful for. I'm not sure if he gets the whole thankful thing, so we use the word love. What do you love, Jackson? The first two days he came up with Kristen and Dave and tonight he loves trucks. It will be interesting to see what the rest of the month will bring. Funny, though, Jonathan did tell Jackson that he can always pick his daddy one night. "Planting the seed" according to Jonathan.

And finally, a new habit. Every night during Jackson's bedtime story, both dogs have decided they want in on the action and jump up on the bed. Usually Jackson wants them to leave when we leave but tonight he decided that Coda should stay. I thought that he would stay up playing with her, but he surprised me and just gave her a few pats and that's it. I went up there and asked if he wanted her to leave but he just petted her and said "no, this is my doggie." Awww. I also want to note that Jackson has really been into walking Bella. Our dogs are not great walkers but for some reason, when Jackson is walking Bella she says right with him and even stops when he stops. It's crazy but it's like she knows to be gentle when he's holding her leash. When Jackson was born I couldn't wait to see the relationship that he would form with his dogs, and now I get to witness everyday the love he has for them.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T06:12:00.001-07:00

For me usually being such a Halloween Debbie Downer, our Halloween weekend turned out pretty fun! Our Halloween started about 9 months ago when we took our trip to Universal Florida and found the THING 1 and THING 2 shirts for the boys. After some Ebaying, trips to the costume store and JoAnns, and a little cutting and gluing, our costumes were complete....Mr. and Mrs. Cat in the Hat and their sidekicks Thing 1 and Thing 2! This was the first Foley Theme Halloween and I am pleased with the results! We practically lived in these costumes all weekend!
Going backwards....

Halloween. Our neighborhood sure does it right on Halloween. It was packed with kids (and adults) in great costumes. Neighbors gave out swords, full candy bars, had bonfires on their driveways, and the houses were fully decked out. If you are looking for a neighborhood to trick or treat in, this is it! It has become a tradition now to have all the cousins over to enjoy this great day together. We are all always dressed up and we did not disappoint this year! I think we were the best (and biggest) looking group out there!

The Foley family with a little Cat in the Hat action...

The Staniak family took us to Never, Never Land.....

The Thommes' family did it up with the Wizard of Oz.....

And the Connelly family had a bit of Disney in them!

Here is the gang!

Look at those snakes!

On Sunday, we went to the Chicago Botanic Gardens to trick or treat in their train garden. They decked out the trains with spiders, webs, bugs, and had some treats (even a potted plant) to give away. It turned out to be a bit chilly but Jack didn't mind-he went through the trains twice!

Loving my boys!

GiGi and the boys. Jack was too into Thomas to smile.

My Uncle John and Cheryl were nice enough to meet up with us. Jack and John both have a fun time together checking out and playing with trains so this was just perfect for them!

Their mums were AMAZING! I need to get some tricks from them since I seem to kill all of mine.

Saturday night we made it over to the Kieffers for their Halloween party. This party was totally decked out. I don't know how Kristin does it! It was better than any 1st birthday I have ever been too. The decorations, the food, the dance floor were all amazing and fall themed. There were even little witch broom gift bags for the kids! So cool! We had a great time hanging out with Mickey (Travis), Minnie (Kristin) and Goofy (Tate) and all of their friends.

Jonathan and Jack enjoying a Halloween cake pop!

Thing 2
All of the kiddos! Jack is in there somewhere...

What a bunch. You should have seen them on the dance floor!

Look at them! They were the best THINGS around!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

MOVING!

2011-10-28T13:24:00.001-07:00

As we all know, Brayden does not like to be on his belly. Currently his preferred position is standing. He loves to play with toys on the couch while he stands. Who knows. Anyway, if he doesn't do belly time he will not be crawling anytime soon. I needed to think of something that will entice him to move that little belly. Another love of Brayden's lately is finger foods. Screw the bottles and baby food. This kid could sit in his high chair all day just eating Cheerios, or like foods. So the light bulb went off this morning and I decided to mix the two and wooolah!

HE'S ON THE MOVE! I'm not sure how I feel about it and at the moment he will probably not do this on his own, but we are going down a slippery slope. Is baby proofing in our future?!

Our little pumpkin

2011-10-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Fun

2011-10-24T05:45:00.000-07:00

We headed back to the pumpkin farm after church this past Sunday. It was a quick trip-we just needed to get a pumpkin. So we were in and out. Then we went home and even though it's totally not my thing, we did a little Halloween decorating around the house.

Jack picked out the perfect pumpkin, though we did almost buy a $25 super sized pumpkin.

Brady boy.

Jonathan and Jackson working on the pumpkin guts.
Yum. This is pretty much the extent of what Jackson would do. He wasn't the biggest fan of the slime.

I worked on getting all the seeds. We roasted them and they are so yummy!

Jonathan was our master carver. Jackson picked out the design...ghosts.

The finished pumpkin!

We also kept busy.....

dressing like a witch

playing in the leaves

(our big tree has yet to turn and drop it's leaves but we are waiting anxiously for some leaf pile playing)

and a little decoration with spider webs.

Our finshed product.

The house is now set for Halloween which is exactly a week away. Now we need to get on those costumes, food, candy and our fingers are crossed for some nice weather for a cousin trick-or-treating gathering.

7 months old!

2011-10-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

Here is what Brayden has been up to in the past month...

Has been eating like a champ. I make him 4 6-8oz bottles but he often does not finish them because all he wants is FOOD. He eats twice a day (because I'm lazy and won't feed him more). He eats pureed food mixed with either yogert or cereal and loves to pick up puffs and Cheerios and stuffs them into his mouth. He still is working on the pincher grasp. I think this month we will work on more table food.

He wears 9 or 12 month shirts and 6 month bottoms. He is still our tall skinny guy with a HUGE head. It's been fun looking for winter hats.

Sleeps is pretty much the same. His naps have seemed to get longer but will often wake up in the wee mornings talking to himself and if I get him he will immediately go back to sleep in my arms. Probably need to stop this, but I love the cuddles.

He is not a cuddler unless he is sleeping. He needs to move.

Still has no interest in crawling. Probably because I am a sucker and move him around because I am so tired of hearing him cry/whine. Or because he doesn't need to because Jack always brings him toys to play with. Or because he LOVES to sit and I rarely put him on his belly. I have to admit it's kinda nice not to have him crawling. Things will definitely get interesting fast when that starts!

Brayden loves to stand and is trying so hard to do so anywhere and everywhere. He often tries to use small toys to try to stand and will end up falling over onto the floor. He will also try to move a bit when he is standing. It is so cute to watch him concentrate and move those little feet.

He needs to be in a big boy carseat. He is officially too tall for the infant and needs to be moved. I need to get on that...

Wears size two diapers but 3s at night.

Has two (almost three) teeth! About 10 days after his 6 month appointment they popped through. I thought there was only one, but then that night when I was showing Jonathan he found two in there! His first two were the bottom middle and the newest one coming through is his top left fang! His smile just got 100% better with those pearly whites.

He loves to smile....or whine...or cry. I would say that about 20% of his awake time he is content. He is still a needy child.

He loves to be in someones arms and has yet to show favoritism. He just wants to be loved but will often watch me if being held by anyone else.

Brayden has had his first fever. He has been sick for the past few weeks but the fever the past few days. It even got up to 105.4! Poor kid.

Brayden is getting better at turning around in circles on his belly.

He also loves to take rides in the wagon. He just chills with his feet up.

Is a talker and says "mama" and "dada" but not towards us.

Loves to be tickled under the neck or on the upper thigh. This is the only time we can get him to really laugh.

We love you Brayden! You are so special to everyone in this family. We can't wait to see what you will surprise us with next month! Maybe some crawling, more talking, more eating? Oh, the life of a baby!

A little Tuesday entertainment

2011-10-20T13:31:00.001-07:00

A beautiful and huge tree was cut down this past Tuesday in front of our neighbors, the Rorks, house. This led to us being stuck in our house but with great entertainment for about two hours. Dana and Gavin came over since they were pretty much kicked out of their house and we all enjoyed watching the demolition together. There were all kinds of trucks, "guys" (workers), and chainsaws. It was really interesting watching it all come down. That evening we took Jonathan to view the tree and snapped a few pictures to really show how massive it was.

Brayden looking lost on the stump.

Hiding

Mr. Strong

Just to show you how big it really is!

Sunny October

2011-10-14T05:33:00.000-07:00

October is in full swing and we are as busy as we were in the summer. Aren't things supposed to slow down in the fall? The weather has been amazing, so maybe that is tricking us?

Before I start with the recap, I just HAD to throw in this picture. He is just so darn cute to me! This was taken when we actually had fall weather for a few days.

Kristen came into town and as usual, we had the days booked to the max. We saw Amber, Carissa, the Foley cousins, our Uncle John, our high school friend Carrie and her baby Abbi, and we went to Gobberts, Crabtree Nature Center (which was surprisingly really neat), and our parents house for dinner one night. We just couldn't get enough of Kristen and Addie before they left.

Brayden fell asleep on Kristen, which is super rare for him. Now he has given Kristen AND Jenny the pleasure of his cuddles. What about his mom?!?!

@ Crabtree Nature Center

Jackson holding a fuzzy caterpillar.

Getting cuddles from Adelyn!

Here are the four littlest ones all born in a different month. Dylan (Feb.), Brayden (March), Addie (April) and Logan (May). It was nice to get a girl in the mix.

Getting ready for Halloween!

Brayden has been LOVING his food. He will scarf down a bottle and then just sit and whine for food! I don't think he is even hungry but he will just eat and eat. We are working on picking up his food and he is getting better and better everyday. I just throw a whole bunch of Cheerios on his tray and he goes to town. They usually end up all over, with only a few in his mouth. Along with store bought and homemade baby food, he has had Mum-Mums (recommended by Jenny), teething biscuits, Puffs, Cheerios, and any fruit or veggie that I have lying around that I put in his mesh food teether thing. He often gags but it's a learning process, right?!

This one is for Dave. A young apprentice?

Brayden now holds all of his bottles and can regularly be found playing with them.

Mum-Mums are his favorite!

My second attempt of homemade baby food! He is definitely going to turn orange!

Brayden has been standing a lot lately. He loves it and can hold on for quite a while now. He has also been know to cruise a bit. It definitely wobbly but he gets the job done when he is determined. Crawling is not on his agenda. He just does the whole superman thing and cries when things are put out of his reach.

After Kristen left Saturday, we raced home, packed and headed out to Toledo. It was a quick drive. It was fun to see Grandma Janet's and PaPa's new place and hang out with them. We made a trip to Cedar Point and met up with some cousins. It was a long day but beautiful! It was a nice day away from the kids (thanks John and Janet)!

This was the crazy coaster that went up 420 ft and 120mph! It was only 14 seconds long but it was scary!

We didn't get any pictures from our trip but here is Brayden on our ride home.

And here is Jack on the way home. He was sick and tired of the sun getting in his eyes.

Goebbert's Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-07T06:25:00.000-07:00

We made our annual trip to Goebberts yesterday. This year was extra special because Kristen and Addie was in town to join us, along with GiGi. We will probably make it back again this year because we didn't end up getting a pumpkin, but it was a fun first experience.

I love these boys!

The ever so popular pumpkin shots...

Jackson getting a little silly with his picture.

Big smile from Brayden

Double trouble.

Cutie pie Addie, just taking it all in.

Can't say we didn't try...

Jackson seemed to remember his cousins riding the camel last year and just HAD to have his turn this year. I kept asking him if he was sure since it cost $5!! But he kept insisting he was sure.

And what does Brayden spy?

His big brother riding the camel all by himself! Jack loved it and wouldn't stop talking about it all day! Now his favorite animal is...you guessed it....a camel!

How tall this fall?

Jack

Brady

Addie

Cousins hanging out in the stroller.

A pumpkin ate Jackson!

GiGi loving her grand kids! It's not often she gets to hold all three!

Brayden is Baptized

2011-10-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

Today our baby, Brayden James, was Baptized. He now has started his journey learning about and trusting in God. Brayden is so lucky to have not only such wonderful Godparents, Jenny and Ryan, but a pretty amazing family to help him grow into the man we all know he could be. Driving home after his baptism all I could think about is that we are so blessed for having such an amazing family. I know they would do anything for him (and us) and even though the Baptism service was a marathon one, they all stuck it out and supported our little man today. He might not know it yet, or maybe he does, but he is one lucky guy. Thank you to all of our family who love our little guy so very much!

Today is your day, Brayden James!

Godmother Jenny getting Brayden ready for his bath.

Bath time!

One quick prayer before getting dressed.

Godparents getting Brayden ready for his big day.

Brayden with his new parents, Jenny and Ryan. Like the hat?

Brayden with his Grandma Kathy.
This picture just seemed so angelic.

Brayden checking out his cake. He still has six months till his first birthday but he couldn't wait to get his hands in it.

Brayden hanging out with his pal Dylan waiting for the service to start. Could these two look any more different?!?!

The main event. He was sound asleep on Jenny about two seconds before the water was poured on him. Let's just say, he had quite an awakening.

Brayden was so lucky to have so many people come to share this special day with him. He is so loved!

GiGi and PaPa

Grandma Kathy

Grandma Janet and PaPa

Great Grandma Z

The Thommes' Family

The Connelly Familky The Staniak Family

The Foley Family :)
Happy Christening Day, Brayden James. You are so special to everyone who knows you, especially God.

Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved...

Mark 16:16

This n' That

2011-09-29T12:53:00.000-07:00

The days are getting shorter (but seem SO much longer) and colder and we are trying to find things to keep us busy. Here is what we have been up to...

Some how with some shared clothing, we have matching shirts! Man. It is hard to get a good picture of two kids...

Potty Training. It is a daily issue in this house. He had a really bad day not too long ago that made me think I was crazy to do this already, but seems to be doing much much better since then. We have either no accidents or just one a day. #2 is still hard. I need to catch him in the act and then race him to the potty. He also tries to hold for days. Here he is eating his poop reward, a donut. Do you think he liked it?

Legos are what is cool in the Foley house these days. Jonathan brought back his old Legos from his moms house the other day and it was a hit!

Jack painted with apples. Messy but fun!

A pinterest find...we made a parking garage out of file folders for Jackson's cars. He plays with it everyday. I had to pick this picture because he is doing his happy dance that we just hate.

Brayden likes to play too!

We went out to pizza one night and Brayden sat in his first highchair! What a big boy!

Jackson pulled Brayden around the neighborhood for a good 45 minutes! He was so proud of himself and Brayden was happy the whole time!

Brayden's First Sleepover-Dylan!

2011-09-28T12:17:00.000-07:00

AND his cousin, Dylan, had a B.L.A.S.T!

In all seriousness, Dylan did have a good time, Brayden enjoyed playing with Dylan, and Jackson LOVED having another baby in the house-now he had four hands to hold/kiss.

See...happy!

Playing together with half awake/half sleeping Jonathan. Should he be holding two babies?
Love!

Dylan loved to try to "get" Brayden and Jackson. Brayden wasn't that big of a fan, but Jackson loved Dylan giving him kisses along with pulling his hair and ears. Jack always went in for more!

Having breakfast together.

After Dylan fell asleep at the party, Brayden didn't know what to do with himself which lead him to "drink" to pass the time! I think Jack had his first "drink" at a Rork party as well! Those crazy Rork parties....

Dupage Children's Museum

2011-09-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

We met up with Jen and Tyler at the Dupage Children's Museum in Naperville. Every time we go to a children's museum (I've been twice, ha) I am disappointed every time. I don't know if it is because I have such high expectations, or if it is just too crowded, or if Jackson is too young but I am always walking out disappointed that I paid that much for it. I think the main thing is that Jackson needs to be a bit older to actually enjoy the activities by himself AND for more than 5 seconds. Don't get me wrong, he had fun and was entertained the whole time, but most of the activities were geared towards older kids. I don't know if I could say that I like the DuPage or Kohls children's museum better (there are good things about each) but I would go back to both when Jack gets a bit older or if we have a really good coupon. Despite my attitude, we really did have a good time with Jen and Tyler (as always!).

We hit up the tool shop first. They HAD to wear the goggles in there because they were working with real nails and hammers!

I think they liked the water the best!

The new train exhibit. My pictures were turning out really bad in there but if you look closely you can see Jack's head peeking out in the back. This was the best train picture I got. Jackson loved the trains but tried chasing it around to get a good view. He just didn't understand if you stayed in one spot it would come to you.
Jack and Ty playing with shapes.
These were really cool. Glow sticks that you could make pictures with!
And yes, Brayden was there for the ride as well. He was a bit needy. I tried feeding him, holding him and getting him to sleep but I think he just wanted to get down to play and move. He did get to stand up and play for a bit and he was thrilled.

Brayden is a 1/2!

2011-09-21T06:01:00.000-07:00

WHAT. A. MONTH.

1/2 a year later and Brayden is a new man, errrr, baby! He is Mr. Happy (most of the time) and loving life! This past month has brought SO many changes, all good, and we are SO looking forward to the next six months with Mr. Sunshine!
This month Brayden:

is Mr. Smiley. He smiles so much because he is just so happy. He gives us the best smiles when he first sees us or someone new walks in the room and gives him an ounce of attention. Oh and the kid has the BIGGEST smile! (see below)

loves.....sitting up and playing, taking walks in the stroller, his brother, any toy that he can put in his mouth especially his giraffe, his pacifier, his toes, swings (the outdoor type), chewing on fingers, standing up, being held, when people sing to him, and toys with music.

is now taking baths like a big boy. He loves to sit like his big brother and chew on the bath toys. He loves the water and doesn't mind one bit to get water in his face. Brayden gets baths every night or every other night.

now wears 6 and 9 month clothes and size 3 diapers.

eats likes a champ. 4 8oz bottles a day (morning, night and after both naps) and eats food twice a day (usually lunch and dinner). He has had sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, pears, bananas, and cereal. When I feed him I have to trap his hands under the tray because he is constantly moving.

like I just said, he is moving non stop during the day.

he loves to sit up and it getting really good at it. I don't feel like I have to put stuff behind him anymore and he can usually catch himself. He now hates to be on his belly, and his back is his third favorite position, behind standing and sitting.

still has NO teeth! but is drooling like crazy and chewing on everything!

has a mole/freckle on the top of his head. I feel like it's my fault that he has that, but I try to put a hat on him all the time!

is still not happy doing anything (except being held) for more than 10 minutes. He will last longer if I am not in view. Once he sees me, it's all over. He's a mamas boy! And I've got to admit that I kinda love holding him since he wasn't all into it when he was younger.

is now sleeping through the night. He does like to wake up at 5AM and it ticks me off every morning but then I just remember what it was and I'll take 5AM over that any day. He often will then go back to sleep after some coaxing and sleep till somewhere in the 6's. Brayden goes to be sometime between 6:30-7PM and usually sleeps in his sleepsack and always is put down on his belly.

still has red hair, dark gray eyes, and fair skin.

is starting to say the "mmmm" sound. Is "mama" in our future?

takes two naps that last anywhere between 1-2 hours. They are usually start between 7-8 and 12-1 depending on when he wakes up.

can hold his own bottle! I can't tell you how nice it is to just give him the bottle and then walk away and come back and it be finished. So nice.

We went to the doctor yesterday and he is right on track! Right after I finished telling Dr. Lynch
how well he is doing, I sat him down and as soon as Dr. Lynch started talking to him he looked at me, let out the loudest cry and huge alligator tears and then cried the whole time. I couldn't believe it! He is usually so good with other people and I have never see then whole stranger anxiety thing with him before. I chalk it up to no nap and a hungry kid and maybe a little scare from the dr. Brayden got three shots (one being the flu shot) and we will be back in 3 months! Goals for our nine month appointment: crawling, cruising, and eating three meals a day with fewer bottles.

Weight: 16lbs 4 oz (29%)

Brayden's 6 month photo shoot!

Height: 28 1/4 in (95%)
Head: 50%

That's our Brayden in a nutshell. He is growing and we are loving every minute of it!

LOVE HIM!

Why?

2011-09-18T18:38:00.001-07:00

Oh Jackson. You make our days so interesting! We now have entered a new stage in Jackson's life. The WHY stage. It all started yesterday and it has been relentless. In all honesty, I didn't think this stage would come. Jackson was kinda already in this phase always asking, "whatya doing?" But this is just ridiculous! It's only been a day and I'm already over it. (I can already hear Jackson asking, "why?" ugh.)

Why?

Jackson is now 2 and 1/3 years old and I thought that I should do a little update on him. He LOVES to be outside. He is getting much better on his balance bike and likes to ride bikes with his dad and would ride all the way to the park if he could (he also often walks all the way there and back). His favorite thing to do outside is to mow the lawn (especially if dad is mowing too) and look for bugs. If he could, he would wear his rain boots all day. Jackson has also taken an interest in playing with his soccer ball/football/basketball and even got a huge bump on the back of his head when playing soccer with his dad.

Outside at the Schaumburg festival showing off his muscles.

Jackson has gotten so smart in the last few months. He can recognize most of the letters of the alphabet and their sounds (thanks to the Leapfrog movie from the Staniaks) and can count to 13 by himself and 30 with us. He knows most of his colors (his favorite is probably purple) and we are working on his shapes. He loves to read and is talking up a storm. He with stop anything that he is doing when a song comes on and either sings or dances and is really into the movie, The Lion King. He loves to play with his cars, trains, tools, and Play Doh and is getting into coloring (preferring plain paper over coloring books). Jackson's imagination has exploded in the past weeks and loves to play make believe. Just today he was fishing with his dad in the kitchen. He also loves to help with anything that we are doing.

He is having so much fun playing with his friends, and always looks across the street and asks for Ian and Gavin. He gets excited when we mention that he is going to play with anyone and is getting much better at sharing (sometimes) and group play (especially with his cousins and Noah leading the pack).

Jackson hates to take pictures and the only reason we got the next one was because he was actually taking the picture and then viewing it. Jackson looks so loving in this picture and he is. He will always give us a hug and a kiss and is now telling us he loves us at random times during the day. I melt every time. It is so darn cute and come at the most random times. If we ever get hurt he will kiss our owie and will always say "Sorry. It's ok." if he does anything wrong.

Jackson loves his dad and wants to be just like him. He is totally a mini Jonathan. Still loves watching tv and movies, but now has taking a liking to the Ipad and can navigate it probably better than me. He absolutely loves to play hide and seek and will always hide in the exact same spot where he just found Jonathan.

I taught Jackson that when someone says "stop it" you need to stop what you are doing and he now turns that back onto me. He makes the best fake sad face and there are multiple times during the day that I just have to turn away from him and laugh when trying to discipline him. He knows where the time out spot is and goes to it when asked and stays there (finally). He is a much better listener and loves to walk when out shopping and will follow me around instead of running off!

Jackson is a pretty easy going guy and will protest things, but give in very easily. He just goes with the flow. Below is a picture of him the other night just hanging out with a crooked hat with not a care in the world.

Jackson absolutely adores his brother. I love, love, love that he loves Brayden so much. Anyone that know Jackson, the first thing he goes for is Brayden's hand. He loves to hold Brayden's hand and pull it towards his mouth to, in my opinion, kiss it. He now tries to play with Brayden and is learning how to share. He even sings to Brayden when he is crying and his favorite thing to do it to go and get Brayden when he wakes up from his nap. You will often find him in Brayden's crib just hanging out with his brother. Jackson calls Brayden, brother, and I love how he says it.

Jackson brings us so much joy and laughter to our days. It is so exciting and amazing to watch him grow up. It literally gets better every single day.

Our new BIG BOY!

2011-09-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

That's right! Jackson is now a BIG BOY! We decided to take the plunge and start potty training Sunday. It is now the end of day 3 and we are doing good! I don't know if I can say he is totally potty trained but we are getting there.

Starting this adventure was kinda a random thing. I had originally planned on training him this summer when it was nice out but Brayden was a challenge and for my sanity I didn't need two challenges on my hands. Brayden is now a 100% new baby so I started thinking about it again. Then Jackson started to HATE the potty. He started to say things like, "I want to be a baby" and "I don't like underwear. I like diapers." How was a going to train a BOY? Let alone a BOY that cried every time we even talked about the potty.

I don't remember how it started but sometime last week I was browsing through my June 2009 baby board on BabyCenter (I usually never go on this one anymore and spend my time on my March 2011 board) and came across some potty training posts. One thing that kept coming up was the website 3daypottingtraining. It got me intrigued and I browsed the site and then eventually bought the ebook. I am a total nut for programs that offer you step by step directions for anything so this was right up my alley. I read the program and decided that I was going to start on Monday. Then my Sunday 5 AM wake up call came (Brayden) and I was up. I got to thinking. We had nothing going on all day so why not start today? I would then have Day 1 (probably the worst of the 3) with my right hand man, Jonathan. I ran to Walmart to gather our supplies (underwear, M&Ms, stickers, some poop prizes) and waited for Jackson and Jonathan to wake up. I couldn't believe it but they both slept till 8AM!!! First time ever. Anyway, we ate breakfast and then got to business.

Day 1-We took Jackson upstairs and the memory nut I am, I just NEEDED to get a picture of Jackson wearing his last diaper. He totally protested. I finally got one (nice and full from the night) and then we told him that we were going to take off his last diaper and that he was now a BIG BOY and would wear underwear. TOTAL MELTDOWN. Great start. We wrestled his diaper off and underwear on and then distracted him by leading him on a diaper hunt. We went around the house collecting all the left over Jackson diapers and "threw them away." They are now hiding in our basement. Anyone would be crazy to actually throw away clean, unused diapers!.

We then went to the bathroom. We showed him his potty and told him what we expected of him. Then we showed him the stickers and M&Ms he would earn when he went on the potty. We even placed in view a few toys that he would earn when he pooped in the potty! All Jackson wanted to do was leave the bathroom. He wanted nothing to do with it. As you can see, he came to like it. Look at all those stickers!

We also showed him all the new BIG BOY underwear we bought him. We definitely have a stash! Then the work started. We played and played and drank and drank (juice, of course. Though a nice alcoholic drink would have made this a little more pleasant). And waited. In the first hour he had two little accidents and one big accident. The rest of the day went really well, though we were on him like flies on shit. Constantly reminding him to "tell mommy or daddy when you have to go potty." We also constantly asked him if his underwear was dry. Daddy checked his too and I think this really, really helped. Jackson just wants to be like his daddy. The beginning trips to the potty resulted in just a few dribbles and done, but by the end of the day he was telling us he had to go potty and actually emptying his bladder. He came a long way.

Day 2- Much better. I think we had one major accident, but he was coming upstairs from the basement to try to make it to the potty. He told us several times he had to go but there was still one obstacle we still needed to overcome, pooping. By the end of day 2, our usual daily morning pooper, had not pooped. I think he was scared and was holding it, if that is even possible. Naps went great and night 1 he woke up dry (but I need to note that we peed twice before bed, woke him up to pee 1 hr after he went to sleep AND woke him up 1 hr before he usual woke). Day 2 night was ok, but he did pee a little in the morning because I didn't wake him up the 1 hr before his usual wake up time. I think he probably woke up and had to pee and didn't know what to do (Jack still doesn't get out of the bed). But still no poop.

Doesn't he look so old in this picture?

Day 3- Jack definitely drank less fluids. Popsicle, juice, juice boxes were SO yesterday. We had a great day which started off by POOPING on the potty. He did it and was so excited. However, in the next hour it was followed by two small poops in his underwear, but it's a start.

Sorry, but I had capture it! It's a BIG milestone!
He also loved his new truck.

The rest of day 3 was completed with a lot of playing at the house. I was SO going stir crazy since we have been stuck in the house for three LONG days. Jack and Brayden are so cute together. Brayden just loves to watch his big brother play and Jack loves to try and play with Brayden. He wants Brayden to do anything that he does.

Jack and Brady playing with the puzzles.

At the end of Day 3 I just HAD to get out of the house. We went outside to paint the sidewalk with water. The neighbors came over to paint and play with us. We were outside for over an hour and a half and I just kept waiting for the accident to happen. I kept reminding Jack to tell me and then he did! We are making progress!

It is now the end of Day 3. Is Jackson potty trained? I wouldn't go that far, but we are a heck of a lot closer then we were on Sunday morning. He doesn't cry when going on the potty. He tells us when he needs to go and he actually likes to wear underwear. No more diapers for JACK! He is now our BIG BOY! We still need to actually wear pants over our underwear, venture outside more, take a car ride, be confident that he can actually make it to the potty when we are out, give him a little more room when playing and not have to constantly watch him, and have more consistency with a dry bed at naps and night time. I know we still have quite a long road ahead of us but we started down it and will make it to the end.

We are so proud of our Jackson!

Brayden EATS!!!!

2011-09-06T16:43:00.000-07:00

For over a month now we have been trying to get Brayden on solid food. He has wanted nothing to do with it. So last week I decided that I was just going to feed him 1-2X a day and even if I only got a spoonful in his mouth, he was bound to catch on at some point. So I stuck with it (through the whining and clenched lips) and today he finally ate!!! I was SO proud of him (the little things, right?). Today he finally decided that he would actually open his mouth and eat. So we are calling today Brayden's "first" time eating solid foods. We pretty much skipped over the cereal and green vegetable and went right to a sweet vegetable to entice him to eat. We'll back tract at some point, but HE'S EATING!

Waiting to eat his SECOND round of sweet potatoes.

"I think I'm going to like this!"

"Stop bothering me! I'm eating"

YUM.

(A lot of orange going on in that picture.)
For Jackson's first food experience click here!

Randall Oaks Park

2011-09-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

We met up with Parker and Gen (and April) to explore Randall Oaks. We went to the petting zoo, had a picnic and played on the playground. The kids had a blast and play so nicely together. It was a hot day but we were loving it since we know there won't be many more of them this year.

The three amigos loved the petting zoo so much I only got this one picture of their adorable faces!

Jackson feeding the goats.

Parker, Gen and Jack deciding if they like the goat or not.

I NEED A GIRL! But in the mean time I'll borrow Gen anyday! She was my little helper with Brayden...holding his hand, feeding him his bottle, pushing the stroller. She is so adorable.

Checking out the cow.

Gen and Parker had no fear when feeding the animals.

Jack on the other hand would rather just run around and look at all the animals.

My baby!

Just another Tuesday

2011-08-30T06:22:00.001-07:00

This morning we got right to playing. Jackson wanted to play with his dinosaurs and after we put them together, he decided that Brayden should "play" one. It is beginning to get a lot easier for these two to play together since Brayden is getting pretty good at sitting (he has gone up to 15 min without toppling over but when he eventually does topple it is somewhat dramatic!). Jackson is beginning to have more imagination play (he pretended his spoon was a plane at breakfast) so it was really fun to watch him direct the dinosaur play with his brother. The dinosaurs went on walks and talked and even had a dinosaur fight.

Brayden checking out the dinosaur Jackson and I built for him.

The boys with their dinosaurs.

The dinosaur fight caught in action....growling included.

This was just a tease of these two playing together. I can't wait for more! I think they will be the best of friends!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-08-26T05:52:00.001-07:00

Guess who.....SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!!

Yep! My kid!!!! Believe it!!

I woke up this morning at 5AM and was in total disbelief when I looked at the clock. He might not do it again tonight, or next week. but to me this was one amazing night for Brayden, and ME! He has come a LONG way in the past week. They always say with colic, one day you will wake up and it will all be gone. We'll it's definitely not gone (I think he will always be a needy baby) but it is amazing how much better he is. This past Sunday Jonathan and I started Brayden bootcamp. Maybe it's a combination of Brayden feeling better (though he does have a cold) and us cracking down on him but the week went really well. He is on a schedule! He takes 2 two hour naps (@ 8AM and 1PM) and one smaller one in the evening. Just a week ago I was just getting 30 min cat naps from him! And just a week ago we were waking up 2-6 times a night AND getting up at 5AM EVERY morning. What a difference a week can make!

My happy, rested baby this morning!

I AM ONE PROUD MAMMA!

5 months!

2011-08-21T17:42:00.000-07:00

Brayden is growing up! Next month he'll be 1/2 year old!!! Unbelievable. This month has been a roller coaster and I think we ended it on the up side. I'm not going to officially say it, but you get my gist.

This month Brayden:

has started sitting. He can now sit for a few minutes. I am still not comfortable plopping him down and walking away but he loves to play in the sitting position.

is totally on formula now. The pumping and supplementing was just getting too much so at the beginning of August we switched to just formula. To tell you the truth, I think he is doing much better on formula than he did on breast milk.

eats every 3-4 hours during the day. He pretty much dictated his schedule during this month. The bottles are 6 oz but he usually only takes 4 oz in the morning and then gradually eats more and more during the day and will take an 8 oz bottle before bed.

still wakes up multiple times a night. It is always different (he likes to keep us on our toes) but the most normal of nights after a bedtime around 7ish he wakes us up sometime in the 12s (gets a bottle) and 3s and is restless from then on till he gets up for the day around 5AM. He has also been known to wake up every hour. Fun.

is beginning to love to be held and is pretty content when in your arms....if you are walking around.

likes his Baby Einstein jumper. He plays with all the toys and turns around like crazy.

still loves to stand.

is not quite ready for food. Tried and failed twice now.

loves bath time and will splash and splash. Has even sat up in the tub and played with some of the toys. He gets a bath most nights.

loves to be swaddles (still) but with the legs out probably due to the fact that the swaddle is not long enough for a 5 month old. Today was the first day without the swaddle. He seemed to do pretty well. He loves to sleep on his belly and it is much easier with free arms.

gives us smiles all day long whenever you look or talk to him or when he's not crying.

is happiest outside and in new places. I think he gets bored easily.

still has pretty red hair and dark blue eyes and super fair skin.

loves to take walks, swing in swings outside, be held facing outwards or on my hip, his pacifier (but really doesn't sleep with it), toys that make sounds, and his brother. He was looking at Jackson today in the car and just laughing and laughing.

That's our little guy in a nutshell. We love the little boy he is turning into! What will next month bring? Maybe some food and some crawling?

Jackson's First Movie-Cars 2

2011-08-20T13:51:00.000-07:00

On a whim (because our other plans fell through due to the rain) we decided to take Jackson to his first movie today. Looking back, it could have been planned a bit better. Like not going during nap time, saving the popcorn for the actual movie instead of chowing it down during the previews or actually going to the movie when it was fairly new so we could go to our cheap theater instead of paying the big bucks at AMC Barrington (the only place running the movie at this point). But it was our first movie experience with kids and we will soon learn.

Jackson has been loving the movie Cars so we thought we would take him to Cars 2. He was super excited to see the movie and go on a date with him mom AND dad (while Brayden got some one on one time with his Grandma Kathy...THANKS!). We loaded him up with all the goodies-popcorn, some candy and the #1 beverage of choice, water. He was in awe of all the lights and signs on our walk to our theater and loved his big comfy seat. How was the movie? Well, Jackson liked about the first hour or so of it and then it was a battle to keep him in his seat watching so we ended up leaving early. At least we tried. Jonathan and I both thought that he would do much better at the theater because he LOVEs to watch movies at home but maybe he likes the movies that are familiar to him. Who knows. Maybe we'll revisit the theater next summer....

Post movie.

Falling alseep instantly as we pulled out of the parking lot.

The Brayden Saga

2011-08-17T16:36:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, we have quite a fussy, little sleeping baby on our hands over here. Don't get me wrong, it IS getting better. He now will calm down when held AND moving. We have tried everything...different bottles, multiple formulas, different feeding schedules, more and less attention, more and less sleep, reflux medication (Zantac), gas drops, Colic Calm in his bottles, different feeding and sleeping positions, different people. The list goes on and on. I feel like we have tried everything and he is still hurting and in pain. My last (and final) resort was to take him to a GI doctor. I just needed that reassurance that nothing more serious was wrong and there was nothing more that I could try or do. Well today was the day and, though, he didn't give us any more insight, I feel much better knowing that I tried everything in my power to help Brayden. I will have no regrets.

Pretty much the doctor ruled out allergy and twisted intestines and after hearing all of my interventions, diagnosed Brayden with Extreme and Excessive Colic. Pretty much what that means is that for most colic babies they have a few hours at night of crying but he is extreme because it can be all day and the excessive part is due to the fact that most colic babies (8 out of 10) grow out of it by three, maybe four, months and since Brayden seems to be hanging onto that colic into month five, he is excessive. He says that it could last up to one year. There is nothing more we can do. Different bottles? Nope. Different formula? He said to just buy the cheapest. Is he in pain? Definitely according to the doctor, but again, there is nothing we can do. Can I let him cry more? Yep, but it is so hard since I now know he is for sure in pain. And as anyone know, when you are not feeling good all you want is your mom. So I was reassured that holding him might help him and won't spoil him since he is needed the attention due to pain and not just because he is manipulating us.

So now we are just riding out the storm. Brayden IS getting better and when you are giving him attention (pretty much holding and moving) he is content. I guess I just get to love on our baby for a few more months. Jonathan said, "Five down, seven more to go."

Now for more exciting and interesting news...

Brayden is about a week away from his 5th month and he is getting stronger and stronger everyday! Check it out!

We work on sitting everyday now and he is probably adding a few seconds to his time every day before he topples over! Maybe we'll be up to a minute by the five month mark!

Since birth, Brayden has preferred standing over sitting or lying on his back. He absolutely loves to stand. The other day I figured out that he liked to use his play mat to stand instead of using it like most babies (he also likes to hold on to his crib)! In the video, once he gets his footing he was good to go!

Tyler's Wisconsin House

2011-08-16T12:19:00.000-07:00

We were SO lucky to be invited to the Ubert's Wisconsin house in Door County. It was BEAUTIFUL! The house was amazing! It was just finished this past May and I couldn't stop telling Jonathan how I felt like I was at a spa! And to top that, they had the most perfect beach for the boys to play on. Tyler and Jackson were in heaven because they had a playmate 24/7. Every morning they would wake up asking for one another and followed each other around all day. We couldn't have wished for a better weekend away. Thanks Uberts!!!

Saturday started out a bit chilly and overcast so we went to the local farmers market, got some amazing raspberry rolls and coffee, and went to the farm. We have been hearing so much about this farm from Tyler and it did not disappoint. We could of easily spent the whole day there!

The kittens at the farm!

Tyler was an old pro at holding the kittens.

When you get to the farm you get to feed the baby goats a bottle of milk. Jackson was not too sure about it at first and like it much better with Jonathan since the goats were pretty hungry for their milk!

There were a few tractor "rides" had by the two trouble makers. I picked this on because they were "driving" the goat around.

Tyler and the baby chick.

Jackson just dropped the chick so Brayden and I got a turn. *No chicks were harmed under our watch.*

Jonathan and the little boys feeding the goats and sheep. There were also pigs, cows and horses!

Our hosts!

Jen, Tyler, and Scott

Can't leave out Brady!

The clouds didn't clear until 4ish on Saturday but that didn't keep us from enjoying the water/sand.

Jonathan and Scott even took Jack and Ty on a few jet ski rides. Jonathan claims that he got up to 45mph with Jackson! That daredevil!

Tyler actually drove his jet ski!

The most perfect beach! Perfect for just sitting and watching little boys play!

Just a cool picture of our little guy. He got to enjoy the sun a bit but, as we know, needs to be moved around to keep happy.

Saturday night we took a walk to the lighthouse and then to throw rocks. We even got to see a bit of the sun set over Green Bay.

Throwin' some rocks.

Jonathan and Jack hanging out.

The Foley Family

Fishing! Jackson didn't catch one but Scott did with his first throw out there. Jackson was going to throw it back until he dropped it on the pier.

The construction workers. The dump truck and digger were in constant use on this trip.

My cool dude.

Jonathan took Jackson on a Kayak ride so I had to throw in Brayden for a quick picture before they left. Jackson favorite part of the ride, chasing the birds.

What a great trip! The Uberts are so lucky to have such an amazing place to vacation to every weekend! Thank you for sharing it with us!

Kristen's Visit!

2011-08-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

After our family reunion, Kristen and Adelyn came to visit for a week. It was a bit crazy with two little ones on different schedules but we still managed to have fun and relax. The first weekend Kristen was in town was our 5 year anniversary weekend. We were lucky to have not one, but two nights out. On our actual anniversary Grandma Janet and Papa came to watch the boys and we went for a nice night out at the "fancy" movie theater. We had a really nice dinner there and then relaxed in some very comfy chairs for the movie. The next night, Kristen took the boys over night while Jonathan and I had a night away. It was great to have a uninterrupted dinner out and a full nights sleep. I was going to get a spa service at the hotel but they were all booked, so I took a nap in the morning after breakfast and before we went home. We are so lucky to have so many people who are willing to take our two boys so we can celebrate! Thanks guys!

Kristen's nervous face right before we left. She actually handled them all quite well!!!

This and That from Kristen's week here:

We visited my Uncle John one day for lunch and he showed Jackson the train he got the kids. It was really cool and Jackson had a blast playing with it. This picture is a bit blurry but it is the only one where I got everyone playing...Uncle John, Adely, Jackson, and Brayden.

Backstory here: Jackson wants to do anything that Jonathan and I are doing. This is how it usually goes..."Whatya doing mommy?" I answer with said activity. " I wanna do it too!" and then proceeds to copy either Jonathan or myself. Thus explains the picture below.

And then Brayden needed a turn....

And of course, Adelyn couldn't be left out! To say the least, Kristen and I were cracking up!

Adelyn sporting My Aunt is the Best shirt!

We spent some time with my parents. It was great to all be together!

Dolphin's Cove:

The kids, Kristen and I took a trip to the pool one day. It was beautiful and we had a blast swimming, sliding, and playing in the sand. Jackson is definitely becoming a fish and absolutely loves the water.

Jackson splashing down the dolphin slide.

Kristen and Adelyn hanging out in the sun.

A quick picture with my boys before Jackson ran off to take his 100th turn on the yellow slide!

McHenry County Fair:

On one of the last days Kristen was in town we went to the McHenry County fair. We went early and it wasn't crowded at all! Then we headed to the Dairy Mart for lunch and off to the Huntley park to play.

Kristen hanging out with the little ones while my mom and I took Jackson to see all the animals.

Sheep!

Pigs!

My cutie pie!

Ducks!

(we also saw goats and cows)

Then we headed over to check out the tractors where Jackson wanted to drive them all.

Brayden getting in on the action.

Then we headed over to check out the horse show.

Hanging out with my little peanut!

Sockers Reunion:

One of the main reasons Kristen came to IL for an extra week was to attend our Sockers Reunion. This was the club team Kristen and I played for for most of our middle/high school years. It was so much fun to get together with some of the girls! It had been almost 5 years since our last reunion and there are many more husbands and babies to add to the group. Hopefully it won't be as long till our next reunion and hopefully a few more can join us.

Here we are displaying some of our old trophies and plaques.

And we wonder why.....

2011-08-09T17:04:00.000-07:00

this kid still needs to be swaddled to sleep. He is NON STOP MOVEMENT during the day. This is just not a bathtime dance party, it's an all day marathon. He just doesn't stop moving! Ever. Brayden's got a lot of energy, to say the least.

Santa's Village Azoosment Park

2011-08-09T11:12:00.000-07:00

Santa's Village decided to open again and since it was right down the road we got a coupon and made the trek over. There was a TON of rides for Jackson to go on and many, many animals to view but the price (without the coupon) was SO overpriced...$16.95!!! per person! Yikes! The place could use some work so we might make a visit back in a few years when they have things more together.

Trucks! Our first ride stop.

A nice plane ride. Jackson picked the orange plane.

We were one of the first in the park that day so we got a free face paint. Jackson picked Elmo.

A long and very slow slide that Jackson seemed to never get enough of.

Turtles! There were baby ones too!

Jonathan and Jackson barely survived feeding the goats.

A sleigh ride around the reindeer.

Jonathan almost couldn't stomach this fast, and high, balloon ride!

He sure loves to "drive!"

They had a bird room that you could visit and fee the birds. Jackson was in heaven because next to ducks and geese, birds top his favorite animal list.

A pony ride on Midnight.

Water, Water, Water!

2011-08-03T18:54:00.001-07:00

We spent a lot of time in the water at the Heil Family Reunion. Jackson was a fish and wanted to be swimming at all times which led to LONG naps! No complaints here.

A few pictures to tell the story of our time IN Lake Lure....

All ready to go!

Some paddle boat time with dad.

All the boy cousins decided to dive off the high dive. And when that got boring they created different ways to make the plunge. We, girls, had a great time watching their stupidity.

Bad mom. But I just had to put this one in here. :)

Meghan was teaching Jackson how to jump into the water.

Jackson floating with GiGi

The two cutest babies around lovin' on each other.

Look at that view!

Jackson was right at home "driving" with Papa.

Concentrating.

Brayden

Kristen enjoying the ride with Adelyn.

Loving on my baby.

Awww! Family!

The boys.

Noodle Fight!

A nice family swim.

The matching ladies, Kaitlyn and Adelyn.

Jackson always on the move.

Heil Reunion 2011

2011-08-01T10:17:00.001-07:00

Heil reunion 2011 took place at Lake Lure, North Carolina. Just about everyone made it to this momentous 25th reunion. This year the oldest Heil (Grandma Heil) at 95 years young and the youngest Heil (Adelyn) at 3 months old both made the trip out to North Carolina. It was a great time catching up with all the aunts, uncles, and of course, cousins. This year we had to rent two homes to accommodate everyone. We spent most of the trip hanging out, swimming, boating, diving, playing Nertz, napping, and of course, eating!

The "bigger" house with boat dock.

Jonathan and I drove all 12 hours to NC at night and arrived early Saturday morning. We hung out with the boys at Chimney Rock until we could check in.

As always, we take family pictures. Here is the growing Philip Heil family.
(We did get a picture of the ENTIRE Heil family but not with my camera. Hopefully I can get it on here at some point.)

The growing Foley Family

Jackson absolutely adored Grandma Heil. He always wanted her to read to him and even kicked the soccer ball around with her. When we left he didn't even hesitate to run and give her a huge hug goodbye! So cute!

Katilyn loving on Brayden

It was so fun to see Brayden and Adelyn hang out. This picture just cracks me up!!!

Brad with the two little ones. It was so nice to hang out with the entire Hoffman family for a while week!

Even Jonathan got some Adelyn time! She was so good!

The three cousins! Doesn't Jackson look HUGE?!?!

Jonathan and out little man waiting on their TV dinner. It was one of the dinner themes of the trip, topped off with a TV trivia night!

Hanging out on the deck. It was where we spent most of our mornings since we were up about 4 hours before the rest of the gang.

Showing off my TV dinner with my Uncle Richard.

We somehow rigged this LONG table so we could all eat together. Some of our dinners included a seafood boil, TV dinner night, Italian, and Christmas in July. The dinners are always the highlight of the day but this year the after dinner activities were much anticipated. They included a intense Nertz tournament, TV trivia night, and decorating the Christmas Tree with homemade "memory" ornaments.

Adelyn and Brayden working on tummy time. They spent a lot of time together on the play mat and were often rolling over on each other, holding hands, or kicking one another.

Like I said earlier, we spent most of our time enjoying the lake so stay tuned for some pretty darn cute kids in their bathing suits!

Brayden is 4 months old!

2011-07-22T18:14:00.000-07:00

WOW! Our little man is 4 months old! We are STILL trying to figure this guy out and he sure has made our lives interesting, but Brayden has brought us so much joy. I often have to stop and focus on the things that I love about him. To us, he has the best (and biggest) smile, he is so good when we are out and about (which we do A LOT), he loves to cuddle and be held, and he sure is a talker, to name a few. We are excited to see what the next few months will bring...hopefully less crying/screaming. :)

At 4 months Brayden...

Eats about 5 times a day, each bottle holding 6-7 oz. I still have to supplement and his bottles usually hold about two oz of formula. I am still pumping for many reasons but mostly because he never has been a good eater and I would have to pump anyway after to give him the rest that he wouldn't eat (plus the extra formula) and to up my supply which hasn't really helped (still get 4 oz each time). I am now also feeding him a 6 oz bottle at night.

now loves to grab his feet with his hands. He is always pulling up his legs.

is still is in 1 diapers and they are not getting any smaller and wear 3-6 month clothes perfectly. I think he is going to be that kid that wears the size that he is.

still loves to stand and loves to sit. We are working on building up those abs so he can sit by himself.

gets bored easily and needs to move around so we brought out his jumper and his exosaucer and seems to like them....for five-ten minutes at a time.

is still not a sleeper. He still wakes up multiple times a night and is not the best napper. Some days he will take really good naps and some days he will just catnap. He seems to nap the best when out and about in his car seat and in the car. He likes to keep us on our toes at night and has no pattern. Sometimes he goes back to sleep easily and sometimes he is restless. He usually wakes up in the 5s and Jonathan is his best friend during this time. He still likes to be swaddled and sometimes rolls over in his crib and can't roll back.

loves his brother and is pretty tolerant up to a point. I can't wait till they can play together!

is a pretty skinny guy. When will we see those rolls? or will we ever?

he loves to be held. He used to just cry all the time, but now if he is held (usually facing outward or on my hip) he is happy!

he likes to be on his tummy and is pretty good at it. He does mini push ups and his head is super strong.

he always puts his hand up to his face when he eats or is falling asleep.

when put on his back usually rolls to his side, arches his back, strains his neck back and usually rolls over.

Brayden loves to put his hands in his mouth. Could he be teething? He is also a drooler.

he has lost most of his red hair. Will it come back red?

giggles! His brother makes him laugh the hardest, but if you catch him in the right mood, he will give you a good belly laugh...usually if you sing to him or tickle him by the neck.

Brayden grabs at his toys all the time and really likes to kick the sides of his playmat.

He will always give anyone a smile if you smile at him. If he hadn't see me for a few minutes and sees me again he gives me the biggest smile!

HOW COULD YOU NOT LOVE THIS KID?!?!

What I've Learned

2011-07-20T18:49:00.000-07:00

I have now been a mother of two for four LONG months. It has been the most challenging four months of my lifetime. It was nothing like I expected. I thought I had this mother thing down. I thought that I could EASILY handle two kids, boy was I wrong. I was so wrong. These past four months I learned that Jackson eased us into parenthood. Jackson had an easygoing temperament. He made any transition seem easy. He was overall a happy baby and we were happy parents. We thought we could handle two...piece of cake. We could have, if we had another easy going baby, but God had different plans. He gave us Brayden and over the past four months we have learned that he couldn't be more different. Let me just say, I am so glad he is different. I want my boys to be different and their own person but he is sure challenging. It's four months down the line and we STILL can't figure out this kid. I know that we will, but at the moment this "phase" seems never ending. It will get better and we will figure each other out, but it is just so hard.

Over the past few months, Brayden has taught me so many things. The biggest being that I was so judgmental and I was SO wrong for being this way. As a parent of an easy going baby, I thought I was literally the best mother in the world. I could get my baby to sleep whenever I wanted him to, I used my "expert" mothering skills to get him to sleep through the night at two months and on a napping schedule at 4 months, no more pacifier-no problem, moving to a big boy bed-no problem. I felt like I was always meant to be a mother, and why not? Look at what I could get my son to do and do so easily. I was so judgmental of parents who couldn't parent as well as me. Your kid doesn't sleep through the night? Your kid still uses a pacifier? You don't have your kid on a napping schedule? I was so critical.

Now I am THAT mother. I can't get my son to sleep, ever. He naps when he wants and doesn't go down without a fight. He naps the best in his car seat in the car and wakes up to any and all noises. He cries most of the day and wants to be held all day. And even though I tried my best, he is horrible at breastfeeding. Everything that I was SO good at doing with Jackson, I totally suck at with Brayden. It frustrates me beyond belief but it has taught me to be more humble, to not judge other parents because, more often than not, they are trying their best. It is just the temperament of their child. So for everyone that I previously judged, I am sorry. This second time around, I am a new mother all over and have learned so much. I have learned that even though you try so hard to make things right, you sometimes just need to let it be, give in and let it take its course. This is so unbelievably hard for me since I thrive on schedules and control and, above all, SLEEP. We are going on 18 weeks of 4-6 hours of broken sleep at night.

Today we went to Brayden's 4 month appointment. It was so reassuring to hear that he is behaving like a typical 4 month old. As hard as it is not to compare, Brayden is surrounded by so many good babies, Jackson being one of them. So hearing that Brayden is the normal 4 month old, and all these good babies are the exception to the rule, makes life a little more bearable. As typical as Brayden might be, it is hard and I would not wish this "typical" behavior on any parent. So I celebrate those who have great babies, Jackson being one of them. We were lucky to have at least one happy, easy baby and with that, it has made Brayden's first four months a little better. I know it is nothing that I am doing or not doing that is making Brayden the way he is. It is just the way he is. He is feisty. (Maybe it's the red hair) At least I know that he will grow up and not let anyone push him around-he is one determined little boy.

Before Brayden I had a lot of empty time in my day that needed to be filled, and believe me, it has been filled. It is overflowing. As crazy as my days (and nights) are, they are also overflowing with love. As much as I hate the crying and hate the lack of sleep, I love Brayden. He has the best smile and every time he flashes that toothless, dimpled grin, I melt and it makes it all worth it.

I have always heard that parenting will be the hardest thing you will do in your life. Before Brayden, I wasn't so sure. Jackson was easy. Now, however, I agree. But I also agree with the rest of the statement when they say it is the most rewarding. Jackson and Brayden have taught me so much about myself and over the past four months I have learned to not be so judgmental of others, to be more patient than I ever have been in my lifetime, to survive on so little sleep, that it is ok to accept help from others, and that my husband is the absolute perfect person for me. Without Brayden I would have never learned this. So even in his young age, he has taught me so much. Life is hard but without the struggles, the good times would never seem so good and you will not grow as a person. So thank you little son for being yourself. You have actually made me a better parent than I have ever been.

Brayden's 4 month stats

2011-07-20T16:30:00.001-07:00

Jackson and I took Brayden to his 4 month doctors appointment today. We still have a baby that doesn't sleep so we are going to try a few different things....a bottle in the middle of the night instead of nursing, crying it out a bit, different formula, and some cereal! She also suggests that we not swaddle him anymore, but we aren't too sure about that but it is good to know that since he is rolling both ways consistently the risks of SIDS decreases dramatically. So, pretty much Dr. Lynch told me that my expectations are too high for Brayden and he sounds like a typical 4 month old. Feed him a little more during the night and she seems to think that we might get 3-4 more hours out of him after that. Otherwise he is looking great and got three shots today, crying during them all. Poor kid.

Weight: 14lb 13 oz (50%)

Height: 26 1/4 (90%)

Head: 16.5 in (50%)

So here is our tall, skinny, smiley boy!

Look for Brayden's 4 month update in two days!!!!

God Bless Logan Foley Connelly

2011-07-19T18:48:00.000-07:00

Sunday, July 17 Logan Foley Connelly was Baptized. Ryan and I were the lucky two that were honored to be his Godparents. He was the perfect baby the whole service. Not making a peep until everything was about over, though we did almost have a diaper disaster, but Mark came to the resucue with a record diaper change right there on the pew. Everyone then went back to the Connellys to celebrate Logans Baptism and Averys 4th birthday.

The Foley family with Logan

Logan with all his parents!

Action shot!

The Godparents and Logan

The Connelly kids

Nate, Avery, Logan and Noah

After a dissapointing Women's World Cup game, we headed over to Tyler Uberts 2nd birthday party. Jackson had so much fun running around and playing that all I got was this one picture of the two trouble makers eating their BLUE cupcakes. They are such buddies!

Phew! What a day!

Life Can Be

2011-07-17T18:36:00.000-07:00

Every year (well, almost) John and Janet throw a great party at their house....Life Can Be. This years Life Can Be party was Marvel themed. As always, we enjoyed ourselves!

Mr. and Mrs. Captain Underpants and kids

Brayden showing off his first pair of underwear.
Jenny and Ryan made all the kids their shirts. They were ADORABLE. Each shirt had their number in the cousin lineup and "Captain (insert kid name)." What a good looking gang!

PICTURES!!!

2011-07-16T16:58:00.000-07:00

We got Jackson's 2 year pictures and Brayden's 3 month pictures taken today. I think they turned out pretty good considering what happened behind the scenes. Jonathan was gone today and thinking back I don't know what I was thinking when planning pictures when I was a single mom, so I got my dad to come and help me out. THANK GOD! The day started very interesting since 20 minutes before we left Brayden decided to poop exploded his picture outfit. I was not going to put him in a different outfit so I quickly hand washed his shirt and then threw it in the dryer. When it was time to go, it wasn't quite dry so what do you do? Throw Brayden in his car seat with just a diaper and hang the shirt outside your window on the ride over! That was just the beginning. Jackson wasn't having the photos and neither was Brayden, especially when they tried to put him in any sitting/back position, which was pretty much all they wanted to do. Luckily I could get Brayden to smile but even with cookie and sucker bribes Jackson just loved to bring out his terrible twos. Let me just tell you, it was fun. Then we had to sit down and pick the pictures which took about 40 minutes and thankfully my dad kept Jackson busy and Brayden magically fell asleep on my shoulder. So we ended on a good note and I think we got a few good shots.

Jackson was the most excited when we offered for him to hold Brayden on his lap.

Love this smile!

He looks so proud! This one is my dad's favorite. He calls him King Jackson!

My baby :)

Jackson's TWO!

So much love

A new comparison...

2011-07-08T10:43:00.000-07:00

I LOVE, LOVE to compare pictures of the two boys. I just don't know if they look alike or totally different. I go back and forth daily. Today when I got home I looked at Brayden sleeping in his car seat and it immediately brought me back to a memory of Jackson looking just the same. So I snapped the picture of Brayden and searched for Jack's picture. They funny thing about it, and I have said this all along, is that Jackson was SOOOOO much bigger than Brayden.

Brayden @ 15 weeks

Jackson @ 6 weeks!

(and he looks so much bigger!)

Alike or different?

4th of July

2011-07-07T11:58:00.000-07:00

I love 4th of July! I don't know what it is but to me, it's one magical holiday. We spent the 4th up in the UP this year in the little town by our cabin, Alpha. If you drive through this town you would guess that about 100 people actually live there, but there was quite a turnout for their celebration.

Our family on the 4th

(and me in my usual red 4th of July dress)

Papa, Jackson, Gigi and Brayden

Waiting for the parade to start. Jackson loved to run and snatch up the candy. It was the perfect length for a parade. Short and sweet.

My hillbilly of a baby. He fit right in.

I actually bought this for Jackson's first 4th but ended up having him wear a different onesie. I couldn't find the one that Jackson actually wore so we had to resort to the sleeveless look, but it turned out perfect.

After the parade, the town fed everyone free ice cream and Cracker Jacks. Jackson ate his on the bleachers while watching what else....

....a cow pooping. The town had a raffle where you buy a big square on the baseball field and if the cow poops in your square you win $3000! It was quite boring and we don't know who won.

Papa and Jackson

Papa and Jackson checking out the cow....
...while Gigi entertained Brayden.

Then Jackson decided to sit back, relax and eat some Cracker Jacks.

Then it was time for the coin scramble and Jackson was having nothing to do with it. We decided that it was because there was only nickels and he wanted quarters. Ha.

Brayden just hung out most of the day.

Later we ate some brats and Jackson made some friends. They played chase and ran around for a good 45 min. They also liked to climb on the water tower and we have a little felon on our hands...

We settled down for some fireworks. They didn't start till 10 and with Alpha being the small town that it is, they set off about 5 fireworks and then then is a two minute lull for them to reload and then it repeats all over. By 1030 they were still going and we still have to drive the 6 hours home so we took off. It was a great ending to a great weekend.

Jackson actually liked the fireworks. There was a great preshow going on all around us so by the time the real fireworks started he was used to them and kinda bored of them and really tired.

It's not often that Jonathan and I get a picture together, so a blurry one will have to do.

****If you didn't see the deck post, check out below to see the awesome deck my dad and Jonathan built!****

The Deck

2011-07-07T04:56:00.000-07:00

My dad and Jonathan rebuilt the deck when we were up north the past weekend. My dad worked hard on the the predeck work before we got up there, working most days for 6-8 hours and then when we got there Jonathan and my dad worked pretty much all day Friday and Saturday. But they got it done and it looks pretty professional! Way to go guys!

The worker bees.

Jackson was ALWAYS so interested in what my dad and Jonathan "were doing" and always wanted to "do it too." He even brought up some of his very own tools to help out.

Working on the deck.

Gigi and Brayden enjoying the almost finished deck.

Hanging out on the deck. It used to be only big enough to stand out on but now we can put chairs on it and actually hang out out there.

Brayden thinks his dad and Papa did a pretty darn good job.

The finished product!

A little closer view!

A side view!

Great job guys! We can't wait to enjoy it for many more years to come!

A little Vacation

2011-07-05T07:30:00.000-07:00

We took a little trip up north to the UP of Michigan to my parents cabin. It was our first dive with two kids and it went great! The drive didn't seem long at all...about 6 hrs going up and 5 coming back (we made it in record time!). We drove both legs at night so they both slept. Well, I take that back. Jackson stayed awake watching movies till 10:15 on the way up there and then we arrived at the cabin about 30 min later. But on the way home they both slept since we didn't leave until 10:30pm when the fireworks were over.

We had such a great time at the cabin! We were busy but relaxed a lot! Jonathan and my dad rebuilt the deck (post to come) while my mom and I took care of the boys. Jackson took some pretty amazing naps since he was worn out from playing outside all day. I really want to go back but Jonathan has a hard time getting away where phones and Internet do not work. Maybe I can convince him....

Brayden's first LONG drive. He was ready to go with his cars outfit.

The boys in their part of the car. The girls were in the back and we were in the front. Our stuff was pulled in the hitch behind us. It worked out perfectly except we had to take all the stuff off the hitch to get the girls out. So they were stuck until we got there (we didn't make any stops anyway).

We all took a trip to Chicagon Lake one day. The lake has a beach, a slide in the water, a diving board, a playground and the best part is that you get to lay on grass and don't have to get all sandy. Jackson was moving non stop and only sat down when we took an ice cream break.

Walking in the water with dad!
The water was about waist height for Jackson so he got some freedom to explore.

He wasn't so sure about the slide. We pretty much had to push him down.

All my boys!

Happy Baby!

Papa and Gigi took Jackson for a ride in their floats.

Jackson and Gigi went for a walk and picked some wildflowers for me! Such a sweet boy.

Jackson wanted to do everything Jonathan did....even the dishes.

Jackson loved to take boat rides. It's pretty much all he talked about the whole trip. That and fishing.

The view from our new deck. Jackson was out on the boat with Papa.

Jackson also couldn't stop talking about going fishing! I think he caught something!

Fishing on the 4th of July. I would cast and Jackson would reel it in. We didn't catch anything. Probably since we went fishing in the middle of the day.

And some fishing with his daddy.