A Love Like No Other

Great Falls Park

2011-10-29T20:14:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we went to Great Falls Park. It was pretty much an excuse for me to play around with my "big" camera, but we also had fun "hiking" along the rocks. The park is SO pretty this time of year and it's pretty common to see families taking Christmas card pictures.... so yes, some of these will be on our cards this year too!! LOL

Surprisingly, Emily really loved riding in the backpack carrier

the look on her face here cracks me up!

Brady and the falls

time for some silliness

more silliness....I think Emily is copying me doing the same thing to Alan to get them to smile!! LOL

this is the spot where Alan proposed to me on Dec 5, 1999 (the kids were NOT impressed by this fact)

our little poser...he asked Alan to take this picture

a game of hide and seek

Farm Tour

2011-10-29T19:39:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago we went on a Farm Tour of some local farms that are usually not open to the public. It's so cool to be able to check out some of these farms and the kids absolutely love it!! Our best choice was to stop at a winery for lunch! (the kids got to run around and have fun though too, so it wasn't totally selfish!! LOL) We could not have asked for better weather either, it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!

Our first stop was a "traditional" farm with animals

this picture just says "farm" to me....I love it!

We went with our friends David, Jack, Cassie and Paul

leaves are always fun to play with!

a great spot for some family photos

Cassie, Paul, David and Jack

Next stop was a farm to pick our pumpkins....David and Brady are looking for the perfect one!

Emily protecting our picks!

Brady and I picking out some gourds (it's serious business!!LOL)

Brady, Jack and Emily

It's SO hard to get both kids to smile at the same time (sigh)

LUNCH TIME....the winery (see, Jack's smile is proof the kids had fun!! LOL)

We were the only ones sitting outside so the kids literally had the run of the place

I LOVE this picture...it looks like some kind of magazine/catalog add

Another favorite

climbing the fence is all business apparently

pondering some deep thought (I LOVE the blurred partial barn in the background)

and our last stop was an apple orchard....it's a tough job to carry a bucket of apples

off to find some good apples!

We had so much fun with this, that I've already got the calendar marked for the Spring Farm Tour!!! This is definitely my favorite Fall activity!!!

Fall Festivals

2011-10-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

We LOVE Fall around here!! There are SO many Fall Festivals and we really do try to get to lots of them....some more than once! There are just so many things to do....

like swinging on rope swings

going down slides

feeding goats

playing on tractors

climbing on hay forts

posing for pictures with pumpkins

picking out pumpkins

spraying water hoses like the Firefighters

playing in "corn boxes"

taking our picture in front of the giant pumpkin sign (and eating apples!)

and taking a picture with Mommy! :-)

We sure have had LOTS of fun this Fall

Ticonderoga Play Date

2011-09-25T19:29:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we met our good friends, Julie, Leah and Aaron at one of our favorite places! I am SO glad we "found" this place last year b/c the kids ABSOLUTELY love it and it's open all year round, unlike most of the "farms" around here...you know, the ones with slides, hayrides, and other fun things. And the best part is if we go during the week (or even the weekend really) when there is not a festival, there is NO ONE else there!! We literally have the run of the place and they ask us what time we'd like to go on our hayride!! Here's a look at the fun stuff we did that day. I had my "big lens" on my camera so I couldn't take pics on the hayride and I think Julie has all the pics from the slide, as I was on duty on the top of the hill, helping the kids get situated on their felt mats.

A rare picture of Brady smiling when I'm taking his picture....he's typically not "into" it these days.

monkey see, monkey do!

I'm not really sure what they were looking for, but it was all business!!

Emily wasn't so sure about putting her hands up

But she sure was having fun!

While the big kids did this:

Emily did this!

Brady loves playing these old propane tanks

one of my all time favorites!!!

Emily is VERY into tractors and trucks these days

my handsome boy!

She was watching a bug VERY closely!!! :-)

Hiatus & Summer pics

2011-09-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

Guess it's been awhile since I've blogged! I didn't intend to take a hiatus, it just sort of happened and I apologize. I think getting entirely caught up might be a bit overwhelming, so I'm just going to start up with our summer vacation pictures and go forward. So, here goes:

We drove to Florida and got to spend about 3 weeks there in July and August! Alan, the kids and I spent a week in a great beach house where we had so much fun!! At the end of the week, Alan flew back to VA and the kids and I stayed for almost 2 weeks at my parents. At the end of the 2 weeks Alan flew back and we all drove home and I am happy to report we managed to make the drive in one day!! The kids did AWESOME in the car!!

Here's a glimpse of all the fun we had:

We spent LOTS of time in the pool at my parents house

We had a Taiwan play date at my parents house/pool with Shana (from Orlando) and her 3 kiddos and Kathy and Jeff (from Kentucky) and their son. The kids have such a great time together even though we only get together once a year and of course the adults love having the time to catch up!!

We went to the Clearwater Aquarium where we saw "Winter" the dolphin!

We had LOTS of fun on the beach

we went to some really great playgrounds

and we went to the very cool Glazer Children's Museum, which is 100% hands on...the kids LOVED it!

and we attempted a little fishing outing, but it was pretty much a bust....oh well, maybe next time we'll have better luck!

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Spring Fun

2011-04-14T20:08:00.000-07:00

We've had a few nice days weather-wise lately so we've been able to get outside and have some fun! I'm SO OVER the drab and dreary weather that seems to be lingering....I'm hoping the sunshine is here to stay! Anyway, here's some of the fun things we've been doing!

Emily LOVES bubbles!!

my ham...always willing to pose for a picture...with a smile!!!

Artists at work

Emily making some new friends!! :-) She had a nice conversation with them!! LOL

"Blog Worthy"

2011-04-05T07:34:00.000-07:00

About 2 weeks ago or so, a friend of mine and I were exchanging emails about getting together over Spring Break and at the end of one she asked, "when are you going to update the blog?". My reply to her was something like, 'I feel like we haven't done anything "blog worthy" lately'. WELL, that will be the last time I say that!!! Not 3 days later, we got to spend the night in the hospital with Emily!!! She had been having some looser than usual stools, but at first I didn't worry, as this sometimes happens with her. Then on Saturday, March 26th, we took the kids to see The Blue M@n Group. Well, I had to take Em out somewhere close to the end b/c she was getting fidgety and saying "boop, boop" (poop, poop). So I went and checked that out, which was nothing so we were just about back to our seats and she started saying it again, so back to the bathroom we went. This time she was holding her stomach while saying it and really fussing, to the point that we left the theater altogether, which is when she proceeded to throw up! I was SO thankful we were outside and NOT inside the theater!!! Anyway, I had managed to send a text to Alan that said, 'we need to leave NOW', so luckily he, Brady and my brother were outside pretty quick. At that point I decided we needed to go the hospital. We went back to our house so my brother could get his car and so we could take 2 cars to the hospital. As suspected, Emily was diagnosed with the stomach virus and dehydration and the ER DR. wanted her kept overnight to monitor her.

Getting the IV in Emily was something to watch!!! I have often said that changing her diaper is like wrestling an alligator, well, getting an IV in her is more like wrestling an elephant!!! LOL. I will say, that having 2 nurses comment on how strong she is made me feel a bit better knowing I'm not just some weakling!! (which I know I'm not, but still!!) They ended up having to use something called a "pappoose" (sp?), which is basically a backboard with a straight jacket like jacket attached. In the end she looked like a human burrito!!! Somehow I found the whole thing more comical than sad, which is probably a good thing!! Unfortunately for me, and fortunately for Emily, I did NOT have my camera with me then, so no pictures.

After a long wait in the ER we finally got up to her room around 10 or so. The room was nice.. a recliner, a crib and a bed for me, plus our own bathroom! I had no idea what to expect, so this was far better than I had imagined!! Now, as for sleeping with that IV in...AI YI YI!!! The machine must have gone off a million times. EVERY time she moved, or every time there was the slightest pressure or kink in the cord. I think I finally fell asleep sometime around 2 or so, but I have to say I did sleep well until about 6 when someone came in the room. Brady and Alan came back up in the morning so we basically spent the better part of Sunday at the hospital as a family. Emily was finally back home around 2:30 or so. She's no worse the wear and all back to normal!!! Unfortunately for me, I managed to get whatever it was she had and I was laid up for the better part of 3 days at home!!! I think we've finally escaped the virus at this point!!!

The moral of this story is, I will no long wish/wait for something "blogworthy" to post about!!!

Emily and me lounging

feeling better at this point so she could play with Brady

walking around in my shoes!! That big cast looking thing on her arm is all for the IV!!

Playing in the closet!

just trying to contain her since she was still hooked up to the IV

our room

Brady Turns FOUR!!!

2011-02-14T11:32:00.000-08:00

Holy cow! Where does the time go? I cannot believe my sweet boy is already 4 (actual birthday was Feb 5)! He is so much fun (most of the time) and so, so eager to learn....anything and everthing!! He is constantly asking me to spell words and asking me what words mean. The kid is a sponge!! And he is SUCH an awesome big brother!! He really looks after Emily and takes care of her. He loves her so much and I love it!! When they are away from each other for long periods of time, he always says, "I miss Em-i-we"!!! We are so happy and proud to have Brady and be able to call him our son!! We love you, Brady!!!

To celebrate his Birthday we had his party at a bounce place and it was a blast!! There were only 10 kids, but it was nice having the whole place to ourselves!! It was such a stress free party too, I LOVED it!! They took care of EVERYTHING and it was so nice!!! From a parking space, to a cupcake "tree" to writing down who gave Brady which presents, it was AWESOME!!! This might just be the place to have every Birthday!!! LOL

Nyah running around having fun!

Blake at the bottom of the slide

Billy and Emily

Kayla climbing up!

Kyle coming through the maze

Brady and Ewan at the bottom of the maze

Peyton

I know it's not clear, but it's a face of pure joy!!

Billy having some fun!!

Paul and David

Me and Emily

The brothers jousting!!

Nyah and Peyton battling it out!

Ewan and Kyle

Brady and Kayla

The whole gang!! (Kyle, Kayla, Nyah, Ewan Ty, Blake, Peyton, Emily and Brady)

Brady waiting to blow out his candle

The whole group before opening presents

Peyton with purple icing lips

Emily and Blake....Emily's face cracks me up!! LOL

Present time!!! :-) LOTS of legos....which will make Brady AND Alan happy!! LOL

Thanks to all who helped Brady celebrate his birthday!!! We all had a great time!!

Florida Vacation

2011-02-04T19:40:00.000-08:00

We just returned from a week vacation in Florida and while we had a nice time I've come to the conclusion that January vacations are not for us! We pretty much go to Florida every year in January too, so this is sort of a problem!! LOL. Let me explain: In 2009 we were supposed to go home for G@sparilla but had to cancel our trip because Brady came down with the Roto Virus a day or two before we were to leave; in 2010, we had to take Emily to the hospital 3 different times and she only got to spend one day at Disney and THEN we got stuck there for an extra 3 days because there was about 20+ inches of snow on the ground in VA; this year I came down with the flu and felt so bad that we called and changed my flight to the next day, but quickly reconsider that b/c of the impending snow and called and changed back to my regularly scheduled flight (to the tune of $200 I might add), so I ended up flying to Florida with a 101.9 fever! And of course, by the end of the week both kids had gotten the flu as well!!! AI YI YI!!! We're all on the mend now, and as I said, we did end up having a really good time, so I guess we'll continue going to Florida in January!!!

Thanks to my parents, Alan and I got 3 nights to ourselves, which was very nice and much needed!!! We spent the first weekend at Gasparilla with all of our friends from Alan's Krewe, which was really tons of fun!! And then we got to spend Monday night at a Spa, complete with massages the following morning!!! AHHHHHHHHHH. The kids had a great time with my parents and hardly missed us, but Brady definitely noticed we weren't around much b/c he told one of the ladies at my parents office, "my parents aren't around much, they come and go"!!!!

OMG the sunshine was SO SO nice!!! I don't mind the cold weather, but I DEFINITELY miss the sunshine during the winter. Here are a few pictures of the kids from an afternoon we spent at the park!!

I"m SO thrilled to FINALLY get some pictures of Emily smiling!!!

More Random Pictures!

2011-01-19T12:24:00.000-08:00

Just some random pics!!

Brady and Emily with their new Jingle Dogs, which they both LOVE!!

A little love!!

Mommy catching a snooze with help from my 2 favorite munchkins!!

Brady and Daddy

A little cuddle time

Baseball in the house!!!

I don't remember if I was being attacked or getting a kiss!! LOL

ICE

2011-01-19T11:56:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, we went to see ICE at the G@ylord Resort at the N@tional Harbor. It was really, really cool (no pun intended!). The amazing displays of ice are carved by the same ice carvers that transform China's city of Harbin to an ice city every year!! The colored ice was, by far, the most interesting!! There were 2 slides and Brady and I went down one of them, but he didn't really like it, so we didn't go down the second one. It was SUPER cold (obviously) in the exhibit but you are given a lovely blue parka that really does keep you warm!! I think the best part was that we went Monday after New Year's and there was NO ONE there!!! So, if we decide to make this an annual event, we'll continue going on this day to avoid the crowds!!

this Christmas tree is made entirely of Peeps b/c the only ( I think) Peeps store is at the N@tional Harbor. Pretty amazing!!

there was no way the jacket would have come close to fitting Emily, so we decided to keep her in the stroller and cover her up this way!!

this Nativity scene was really beautiful!!

Lots of Pictures

2011-01-19T11:32:00.000-08:00

Once again, I am trying to get caught up on this blog!! I'm not sure why it seems so hard to keep up lately, but I'm sure part of is my time spent on F@cebook!! LOL. Anyway, he's a bunch of pictures of things we've done recently.

Our first snow....Emily seems to really enjoy this snow year!!

going for a ride with Daddy pulling!!

I just LOVE this picture of Brady!!

Checking out their gifts that Santa left!!

Emily and Pop Pop....she was funny with my dad...it was a game of cat and mouse for several days until she totally warmed up to him, but of course by the end of the week, she couldn't stay away from him!!

Brady playing with his new Leapster

Emily and Grandma

Brady and Pop Pop working on a puzzle

Emily and Mommy playing around after Christmas dinner

Emily showing off her new hat!

Brady having fun on the slide!

Emily's Gotcha Day!

2011-01-05T18:37:00.000-08:00

So we celebrated Emily's Gotcha Day way back on November 19th....a whole year she's been home with us!!! Some days it seems like just yesterday and other days it seems like she's been here for the entire 19 months (at the time)!! I feel like we've come a long way since the day we held her for the very first time. I absolutely cannot imagine this house without in it, that's for sure!! I'm guessing lots of people who don't really know Emily would think she's really serious, but it's just the opposite actually!! She is always doing something crazy, funny or totally out of control and makes us laugh all the time. I LOVE how well she and Brady get along....for the most part!! It's SO sweet how she will rub his back when he cries or how they kiss each other before bed or how Brady "reads" to Emily....just makes me smile!! We couldn't love her any more and she fits into our family just PEFECTLY!!!

We didn't do anything super special, but we did get Chinese food, Shrimp Lo Mein for the kids because it's their favorite and hot fudge sundaes for dessert!! It was great to spend the day as a family of FOUR!!!

hmmm, what is this?

I think I like it....

tastes pretty good....

Starbucks

2011-01-05T18:28:00.000-08:00

Back in November when Starbucks was doing their buy one get one promotion, I took Brady to get his very first "coffee" drink!! He LOVES the whip cream from my drinks and kept asking me when he could have one, so I figured if I could get his free, it was the perfect time!! He chose a peppermint hot chocolate and loved it!! It was a great excuse to have some "private time" with my favorite little guy!! :-)

Halloween

2011-01-05T18:00:00.000-08:00

YES, I KNOW these are really, really late, but at least they're here now!! We had a lot of fun on Halloween this year. Brady was really into it and Emily "got it" after about 2 houses!! Once she realized she got food for going to the door, she was all for it!! :-) Anyway, here's a look at our Woody and Jesse!

Alan's wonderful carving job!

Brady as Woody and Emily as Jesse!!

Emily did a pretty darn good job of pulling Brady, but I think it literally took us 30 minutes to go 2 houses, so we had to put a stop to that!! LOL

She's ALL about the food!

Our super cute Sheriff Woody!

Ticonderoga Farms

2010-11-10T17:36:00.000-08:00

We LOVE fall and all of the Fall Festivals we have around here. Seriously we could probably go to a festival both days of every weekend for a good 6 weeks and even still might not make it to all of them! This particular festival was much, much different than the one we usually go to at Cox Farms. This one is much smaller, more of a "farm" feel than a festival feel, but we LOVED it. It was quite cold this morning, which meant we were basically the only people there for a good hour or more. We met our friends, Cassie, Paul and David there and loved having the run of the place to ourselves!! I'm pretty sure we'll make this an annual event now too!! There are LOTS of pics below to enjoy!

Emily in the tunnel

David looking handsome!

My "little boy" isn't looking so little anymore

OMG, this slide was SO fast!!! Brady LOVED it!!! He probably went down it close to a dozen times!!

playing on the tires

Emily and David inspecting the mulch!

on the tractor ride to get our pumpkins

The perfect pumpkin for the perfect pumpkin!!

This doesn't happen too often

both boys loved feeding the chickens!

Emily being silly

swinging on a vine

time to make s'mores!

Brady liked them!! :-)

a good old fashioned teeter totter!

Halloween Parade

2010-11-10T17:22:00.000-08:00

Brady has his pre-school Halloween parade on Thursday Oct 28th. It was really cute! They had the kids go around the loop two times to make sure all the parents had a good opportunity to get pictures. Brady didn't really seem like he was having fun, but he assured me later that he did have a good time! All of the kids looked so cute!

Brady as Woody (he told his teachers he didn't want to wear his hat)

I LOVE this one even though his hand is sort of in front of his face.

the whole class after the parade

Brady and his best buddy

Brady, his best buddy and one of the little girls he plays with a fair bit. Of course these 3 were the only ones who started misbehaving!! LOL

Cox Farms Trip 2!

2010-11-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

On October 23rd we went back to Cox Farms, this time with our friends, Cassie, Paul, David, Mark, Margi, Ty, Blake, Kristi, Kyle and Kayla and we had a great time!! Even though the kids range in age from 18 months to 8 years there is plenty of things for all of them to do!! This is the second year we've gotten together for this, so I think this has become a bit of a tradition!!

Brady on the slide

Emily tried one on her own and LOVED it!!

the underground slide with Daddy

Brady loves feeding the goats!

Emily LOVES it too!! David preferred to watch Emily and just pet the goat

Ty, Blake and Brady playing on the hay mound

playing in the corn box.

Emily LOVES apples

I LOVE the determination on Brady's face here!

looking for a good pumpkin

This is the best I could get of miss, "I don't like to be still"!! LOL

And this is the best I could get of the 2 of them!!! LOL It looks like Brady is holding Emily hostage!! LOL

Toy Story On Ice

2010-11-02T18:57:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to see Toy Story On Ice on October 22 and we all had a great time. The show was great, a bit long, but great nonetheless. The kids were pretty much mesmerized the entire time. Brady's favorites, from all the movies and here too, were the Army men. And I think Emily just loved everything!

BUZZ!

The Army men

Mr. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, Hamm and Rex

The Aliens

Rex!

Lotso Huggin Bear

Jessie and Woody

Random Emily Pics

2010-11-02T18:40:00.000-07:00

Just some "odd" pictures of Emily that are also very cute!!

A new fashion? Maybe Flashdance?? LOL

This is to show how short Alan made Emily's bangs when he cut her hair!!!!! And I should mention that he did this when I was not home!!! Needless to say, I was not happy!

This is Emily practicing wearing her cowboy boots for her Halloween costume. As you can see, she LOVES them!!! These boots have been in my family for over 50 years!!! :-)

Loudon Farm Days

2010-11-02T17:32:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago we got together with our friends, Cassie, Paul and David and checked out some farms in a neighboring county. These farms are only open to the public one weekend a year, so this was a treat. We started the morning off at an Alpaca farm, then went to a Donkey Farm and ended the day at a "u-pick" pumpkin farm. I think we've decided that the pumpkin farm is going to be an annual tradition b/c we had so much fun looking for just the right pumpkin!!!

Brady LOVED feeding the Alpacas. He's very good at feeding animals and he never appears to be afraid of them either, which is good.

HELLO! :-)

We stopped for lunch at the "General Store" and got some sandwiches and then found this great little park!! It was the perfect rest stop!

Brady riding a "mammoth" donkey. OMG, they were as big as horses!!! He LOVED it!!

Brady and Cassie at the pumpkin farm. When we first arrived and saw the pumpkin patch, Brady exclaimed, "it's UNBELIEVABLE!" It was THE cutest thing ever!!! And he kept saying it!!

Alan, Brady and Emily looking for the perfect pumpkin

Brady and David

Emily and Brady

Local Fall Festival

2010-10-30T18:33:00.000-07:00

We went to a city Fall Festival with our friends, Cassie, Paul and David at the beginning of October. The weather was just PERFECT and there were plenty of fun things to do! One of the coolest things we did was get Brady a photo ID from the county Police Department. His fingerprints are now "on file" or "in the system" and I have an ID similar to a drivers license for him in case, God forbid, anything were to happen to him. Unfortunately they said Emily was too young, so I guess we'll have to get her one next year.

Brady and Alan listening to Brady's favorite band, Rocknoceros.

one of the first stops of the morning....the Fire Department so Alan.... I mean Emily, could try her hand at using the fire hose!

Look at our little firefighter!

She also got to sit in a fire engine! (oddly, Brady was not interested in any of this)

he did, however, like all the lawn mowers!

Brady and David riding together

Paul, David and Brady

Finally, at the end of the day, Brady decided he wanted to try the fire hose!

Another fun day was had by all of us!

Brady, Grandma and Pop Pop

2010-10-30T18:10:00.000-07:00

Just a few pictures of my parents with Brady from their visit in September. Emily was asleep, so unfortunately we didn't get any with her in them. We REALLY need to be better about taking pictures when family is around.....this time I'll blame it on my knee!! :-)

OH CANADA!

2010-10-13T17:53:00.000-07:00

For the past 2 months, if not longer, Brady has been talking about going to Canada!! We're not really sure where he even heard/learned about Canada but we have two ideas....one, Canada is mentioned in a song that we listen to fairly often (the name of course is escaping me at the moment) and the second is his talking globe, but with Brady, who knows!! LOL This trip he is planning on taking is quite important to him and he seems to have it all mapped out. He talks about "paperwork" that needs to be done before he goes; he says he'll have to wear dress socks and that he's going to work in a building like daddy; he has two backpacks packed and ready to go; he says he'll miss us and that he wants us to visit; he talks about the food he'll eat and who will be cooking it; he says he's taking an airplane to get there; he says he'll need to take an extra bag for all the stuff he plans on buying and I'm sure there are a million other things that I can't remember at this particular moment!!! One day last week he came in our room and woke me up saying excitedly, "guess what today is"? I answered, "I don't know" and he then said, "It's CANADA DAY"!!!

Needless to say, Alan and I are wondering if we need to put Canada on next year's vacation list!!

COX FARMS!

2010-10-10T18:26:00.000-07:00

We went to the Fall Festival at Cox Farms on September 25th with my parents who were in town to help out a bit while I recovered from my knee surgery. This is an event we look forward to all year and we usually go at least twice!! The kids have so much fun and for that matter so do we!! I mean how can you NOT have fun when there's a hay ride, petting zoo, corn maze, free apples and apple cider, kettle corn and a free pumpkin when you leave??? :-) OH, and I almost forgot about the slides!!! Fun for everyone!!!

a little daddy/daughter love to start the day!

Emily loved the hayride once we realized she didn't like the hay touching her feet!! LOL

Brady and Pop Pop

Emily LOVED the slides.....Alan said she giggled the whole way down! And I saw a smile every time they reached the bottom!

Brady got one ride with daddy, then for the rest of the day he was with.....

Pop Pop!! My dad rode the slides with Brady b/c I couldn't.

I absolutely LOVE this picture!!!

playing in the "corn box"

the annual growth chart picture!

Brady LOVED all the lawn mowers!!!

the kids really loved this slide!! Brady "made" my dad go down 3 times!!

Emily was good at sharing the apple with daddy!

funny, cute and gross all at the same time!! :-)

my cute boy!

Emily did NOT cooperate at all when it came to the posed pictures!! (but it's cute anyway!)

A fun day had by all!!!

Gymnastics

2010-09-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

I signed Brady and Emily up for gymnastics and we started classes on Monday, September 13th and they both LOVED it!!! Brady is in his first class that I am not participating with him and I'm happy to say he's doing awesome!! Emily's class was a different story though...it is advertised as "walkers to 3", but OMG half of the things she couldn't do or didn't have the dexterity or whatever to do and by the end of that first class I was sweating up a storm!!! LOL. As luck (?) would have it, I was scheduled to have surgery to repair a torn ACL on September 16th so I asked if I could "defer" her to the next session because I hadn't realized just how much I'd have to help her do everything and by the time the next session starts she'll be 18months+ so that should help too. They were very nice about it and said it would be no problem!!! So for now, Brady's the only one having fun, but come November Emily and I will be back doing front roll overs and climbing things too!!

this is called a "Spiderman Walk"

they hang on this bar and then drop into a pit of foam

they get to slide into the foam too!

they are supposed to cross this bar by doing a hand over hand movement

walking across the parallel bars

the balance beam

his dismount!! :-)

FIrst Day of School!

2010-09-30T18:34:00.001-07:00

Brady started pre-school on Tuesday September 14th. I can't tell you how excited he was to go!! He had been talking about school all summer and kept asking when he would get go so when this day FINALLY arrived he was as happy as could be!! He is going two days a week (but that's only because all the 3 day a week programs were full) for 2 hours and 45 minutes.

I think these pictures say all that needs to be said about how happy he was!!! :-)

a self-portrait of mommy and Brady

Daddy, Emily and Brady

this was the best we could get of the 4 of us!!! LOL

Brady's school had a policy that we could not walk them into their classrooms on the first day, so we had to just drop him off. I was a little concerned about this, but he did really well. When we got close to the drop of spot I turned around and it looked like he was about to cry, but he quickly said, "my eyes are just watering"!!! He pulled it together in an instant and then it was time for him to get out of the car and he never looked back, not once!!!

walking up to meet his teacher

After we dropped Brady off, we were invited to the church hall to wait and get a report on how Brady was doing (all parents had this invitation). The school director literally went up to each and every parent there to let us know how our kids we doing. She told us Brady was "fine, fine, fine" so we decided to head out!!! I knew he'd be fine but it was good to hear that, that's for sure!!

Brady waiting for me in the p/u line

he's spotted me!

after I picked Brady up, I took him to Starbucks for a little treat! He chose an apple fritter and apple juice!!!
All in all, the first day of school went very, very well!!!! :-) We are very proud of our little boy!!!

Meet the Teachers!

2010-09-30T18:05:00.000-07:00

On Thursday September 9th I took Brady to his new pre-school to meet his teachers. He was excited to go but once we got there he was a bit shy. He was most interested in the play kitchen in the classroom, which didn't really surprise me! In addition to meeting his teachers and seeing his classroom he also got to decorate the bag that he is to take to school each day!

checking out all that the kitchen has to offer!

Decorating his bag with one of his teachers, Ms. Starbird

After his bag was all decorated we went and checked out his playground!

Meadowlark Gardens

2010-09-20T11:53:00.000-07:00

The other weekend we went to Meadowlark Gardens which is a botanical garden about 30 minutes from our house and it's truly a hidden gem!!! It was a BEAUTIFUL day outside to begin with, but being in a place that was so pretty and quiet, we couldn't help but enjoy ourselves. We probably only saw 1/4 of the place so I know we'll be going back. They have a really cute children's garden area with kidsize furniture and things to play on too! It's also a great place to take pictues, so I apologize for the amount I posted, but we actually got quite a few good ones so it was hard to choose!!

my little "poser"

Emily loves being in the backpack carrier!!!

part of the children's garden

the tea garden in the children's area (those are giant tea cups and a tea pot)

Brady performing, as always!!

Brady was counting to 10 while playing hide and seek

now he's off to find the hider!

Soccer Tots!!!

2010-09-20T11:42:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of Brady at Soccer Tots this past session. He really does love it and I think he's getting pretty good at it too!! However, just to change it up a bit, we have taken a break from soccer for now and are trying gymnastics, which he also loves!! (pictures will come later)

working on dribbling down the field

the "fox" is running away from the "farmer" who's chasing him!

Mommy and Emily

dribbling the ball down the "river" on his way to scoring a goal!

LOVE THESE!!

2010-09-16T19:49:00.000-07:00

I love these pictures because they so clearly show how much they love each other!!

Yo Gabba Gabba!

2010-09-16T19:29:00.000-07:00

On August 28th we took the kids to see Yo Gabba Gabba and they had SO much fun! I have to say, having 5th row seats was definitely cool! Before seeing this live, I would say Emily liked YGG, but now after seeing them live, OMG, she gets SO SO excited whenever it comes on tv. We took the baby bjorn to the live show thinking we'd need some way to keep Emily contained, but she was 100% mesmerized and barely moved the entire show!! It was so cute watching both of the kids in total amazement. After the show, Brady said, "I didn't realize what you meant when you said we were going to see them live" and I replied, "did you think we were just going to watch them on a giant tv?" Brady answered, "yes"!! LOL The looks on their faces was definitely worth the price tag of the 5th row seats!!! :-)

DJ Lance Rock

the whole gang...Muno, Toodie, Foofa, Plex and Brobee

total amazement!

I'm not sure who's having more fun here!!

It was HOT!!!

Brady loved when the balloons fell from the rafters

PLEX!

TOODIE!

MUNO!

FOOFA!

Brobee!

She's a climber!

2010-09-16T19:20:00.000-07:00

Emily is one determined little girl!!! She scaled this rock "wall" all by herself....I was right behind her with my hand under her rear, but I didn't help AT ALL!!! When she got to that first handle you can see, she had to try several times to get up, but she did not give up until she figured it out.

In case you're wondering, she climbs EVERYTHING at home too!!! Fun times for me!! LOL

I think she's re-grouping her and planning out her strategy

she made it!!! :-)

Stribling Orchard

2010-09-15T11:42:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago we took the kids to an orchard to pick peaches and apples and we had SO much fun!!! And OH MY GOSH, those peaches were some of THE BEST peaches I have ever eaten!! Unfortunately, it was the end of peach season so we only got about 10 and they were gone in about 3 days!! Apples on the other hand we very plentiful, so we got full bag of those and we're still enjoying them today. I made a really good apple pie bar recipe that I got from Family Fun magazine.

Brady trying to get some peaches, but he wasn't quite tall enough

sharing an apple

there was a lot of eating going on!! LOL

One of my favorite pictures of Emily to date!!! :-)

time to head back to the car!

after one final romp, that is!!!

Jumpin' Jimmy's

2010-09-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we met our friends, Kristi, Kyle and Kayla at Jumpin Jimmy's for some bouncing fun! The kids had a good time and it was really nice because it wasn't very crowded at all, in fact we were the only ones there for a good 30-45 minutes!

Kyle and Brady coming down the slide

Emily, Kayla and Kyle

a little collision....they both laughed afterwards!

OMG, this cracks me up!! She was running straight for me and dive bombed into my lap!!

Togetherness

2010-09-13T06:23:00.000-07:00

Just a few pictures of the kids having fun in the basement and actually playing together!! It's so nice when that happens!!

Emily "hamming" it up!

working on a puzzle TOGETHER!!

So cute!

Too bad Emily's not looking at me b/c I LOVE Brady's face in this one!

Portraits

2010-09-07T21:23:00.000-07:00

We had pictures taken of the kids a few weeks ago...our first attempt at "portraits" with both kids!! It actually went a bit better than I expected because we got a few with Emily smiling, which is what I was worried about. She smiles A LOT, but unlike Brady she does NOT smile on "command"!!! LOL. We didnt get any pictures of Emily by herself other than the one in her traditional Chinese dress, which I'm a little disappointed about, but again I'm not shocked!! I have 2 other cute ones of both kids but I have to figure out how to rotate them and then I'll put them on here!

Emily's dress is from Taiwan and Brady's is from Singapore (Alan got it when he was there a few months ago). I really LOVE how this one turned out and it wasn't easy to get Emily to sit still for long!!!

I could not be happier with these 2 shots!!!

Alexander's Visit

2010-09-07T21:14:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Alexander came for a visit and boy, do the kids LOVE having him here!! I think they think he's a new playmate or something!! Alexander is great with the kids too, so it's fun watching them all together!!

ZOO

2010-09-05T21:49:00.000-07:00

The day after we got home from vacation we met my good friend from college, Lance and his family at the N@tion@l Zoo. They were visiting for a long weekend from North Carolina and it's been a few years since we've hung out so even though we were beat from our very busy vacation we knew it's be great to see Lance and his family! OH, and we'd never met each other's kids so the zoo was the perfect meeting place!!

It didn't take long for Brady and Lance to become buds!! :-)

Lance's 3 girls (L. to R. Lexie, Autumn and Kelsi)

Emily had a blast!!

Brady liked posing with this ape!!

Plane Ride Home

2010-09-05T21:42:00.000-07:00

Alan and I were both very proud of the kids on the plane. They did great and were really well behaved!! As you can see, Emily liked the snacks and she was good at sharing them!!

one for me...

and one for Daddy!

Brady stayed busy with his activity books!

Vacation Day 6~ One Last Swim!

2010-08-31T07:52:00.000-07:00

We just hung at my parents house on Friday since we had to start packing up to head back home. Of course, we did find some time to get back in the pool, and as you can see from the video Emily LOVES the water!!! The running and jumping was going on for awhile, but of course once I started recording, she didn't cooperate fully!!!

Vacation Day 5~ Rays Game!

2010-08-31T07:40:00.000-07:00

On Thursday the "boys" (Brady, Alan, my dad and my brother) went to the Rays game while Emily and I visited some friends. Brady had a good time and the Rays won!

It's nice that the stadium is a "dome" and has A/C!!

Uncle Michael, Brady and Pop Pop

Brady checking out the rays in the ray tank!

Uncle Michael, Alan and Pop Pop (I'm guessing Brady took this one!)

Sharing peanuts with Pop Pop

Fun at the game!!

Vacation Day 4~ Bu$ch G@rden$

2010-08-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we headed to Tampa to go to Bu$ch G@rden$ (BG)....we had 4 "free" tickets we won at an auction last summer. OMG, it was SO hot that we were all dripping with sweat within about 5 minutes. I quickly remembered why we stayed away from all the theme parks in the middle of summer when we lived there!!! BG had recently opened a new kiddie area with all the characters from Se$ame $treet so we headed in that direction first. It was really nice and had a good amount of rides for the little kids. They had a cool climbing thing with really long rope bridges that Brady braved with a little help from me (which was not my brightest move since I had very recently torn my ACL!). After we were done with the kiddie area we got some lunch and then tried to ride some regular rides, but that never happened. Brady, my parents and I were in line for the jungle safari ride and we're pretty close to the front when Brady said he had to go to the bathroom, and of course there wasn't one very convenient so we had to bail. Just after that my parents had to head home b/c my dad had a meeting to get to. The 4 of us then decided we'd ride the train and wouldn't you know it, we were boarding the train and then the inclement weather announcement came!!!! UGH, can you say bad luck!!! At this point we decided maybe we should just head home so we started heading in the direction of the exit but had to make a detour in a shop to wait out the rain...it was a doozy, so we were just happy we were all dry. It also gave Emily some time to nap in her stroller!!! Once the rain stopped we officially went home! All in all it was a fun day!!!

Brady at the entrance

touching some lizard type animal in a little Australian outpost

Brady and Alan on the Grover rollercoaster. (my memory card was full just after this shot so I didn't get a picture of them going by....grrrrr!)

Brady on the car ride....he really like this one!!!

I guess I should teach him to keep both hands on the wheel!!!

all of the characters paraded in before a show

all of the gang dancing

Emily and Daddy having fun

Emily REALLY liked the show!

the carousel on the other hand, she's not so sure of!

but Brady LOVES it!

Brady asked to have his picture take on these hippos

Emily sleeping during the storm!!!! (btw, her hair is wet from sweat!!! That's how hot it was!!)

Vacation Day 3~ Boc@ Gr@nde

2010-08-24T18:51:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we made the decision to drive about 2 hours south to go to a beach to do some shelling. My parents had been to this beach a few weeks prior and my mom found some of the coolest shells and Brady was SO excited to look for some of his own. The beach was really nice and not very crowded at all. The kids LOVED the water and the sand and looking for shells, even though we didn't have the luck my mom did. We packed a picnic lunch, which thrilled Brady...he had been wanting to have a "picmic" lunch for quite some time....and then we got milkshakes for the drive home!! :-) I guess we spent about 4 hours there so we felt like the drive wasn't too bad and I think we'd consider going again the next time we go "home".

Emily dug right in....literally!!

"what mom?".....Brady and Alan in the background heading into the water.

digging, digging, digging

"who me?"

time for mom and Emily to cool off with Brady!!

I SO LOVE this picture!! I happen to have a very similar one of Brady in my parents pool from last year!

Mom and Emily

"Hi Mommy!"

The story of Emily's hat: I ABSOLUTELY fell in love with this hat on the rack at @ld N@vy a few months ago and really, really wanted to buy it, but it was $10.50 and that seemed a bit pricey for a hat I wasn't even sure she'd wear, but I bought it anyway...in the only size they had, 3-6 months. I told myself it looked big and Emily's head wasn't that big!! LOL. ( remember, I said I really, really wanted it). So I brought it home and tried it on and of course it didn't fit!! I was proud of myself for not forcing it to fit on her head!!! A few days later I returned the hat and then went back and looked in the baby section and lo and behold they another one in 6-12 months!!!! YIPPPPEEEEEE, I was SO SO excited!!! And this time it fit!!!! I'm pretty sure the first time she wore it was 4th of July weekend and wouldn't you know, she LOVES it!! It is THE ONLY hat she will keep on her head....seriously!!! I have gotten SO many compliments when she wears it too, so now that $10.50 seems like the best $10.50 I've ever spent!!!!

Vacation Day 2~Cleaning!

2010-08-24T18:46:00.000-07:00

Monday was spent going to the dentist and eye doctor for me and Alan. I know, I know, it's weird we still go these doctors when we go to Florida, but some habits are hard to break. However, since we are not going home as often, I'm going to have to break down and go to the dentist here in VA!!! UGH!

My mom didn't tell us she hired a new maid!!!! LOL

I think someone needs to tell her that you use a lawnmower OUTSIDE and a vacuum inside!!! LOL

Florida Vacation~ Day 2~ Beach!

2010-08-15T18:07:00.000-07:00

Today was a very busy for us! We started the morning off by meeting our friends Donna, Kevin, and their daughter Shae at the beach. We had a great time playing in the sand and water and catching up with our friends. After some fun at the beach we headed out for lunch and had THE BEST grouper sandwich!! (next time I will take a picture!!)

Next, it was off to visit our friends, the Ponatoski's (Kathy, Jeff and Drew) and Giroux's(Shana, Kevin, Haley, Mia and Kyan) at the beach. We all know each other because we have all adopted from Taiwan with the same agency we used for Brady's adoption. Kathy's family has a timeshare on Treasure Island that they visit each summer and Shana's family lives in Orlando so this is our second annual meet up!! It's SO nice to see them and catch up in person and watch all the kids play together. The kids do really well considering they only see each other once a year (2x if we're lucky)!! Sadly, this year, we ALL forgot to take pictures because we were so wrapped up in visiting with each other. BAD, BAD parents!!!! LOL

The pictures are all from our morning beach outing:

Little Miss Emily acting like she owns the beach!! LOL

taking it all in

my handsome guy!!

Donna with Shae and Emily

time for some digging

Florida Vacation~Day 1~ Love Connection

2010-08-14T19:52:00.000-07:00

We were in Florida from July 23-31 to visit my parents and of course, our friends. Since we are not getting home as often as we used to, it's getting harder and harder to see everyone that we'd like to see, so this year I decided to email ALL of our friends and tell them we'd be at a certain beach bar on Saturday night and we'd love to see whoever could make it. LOTS of our friends came out to see us and it was SO nice to see SO many of our friends!! We will definitely be doing the same thing next year!!

Our good friends, Kevin and Donna, who have a daughter, Shae, who is about 2 months younger than Emily, came out to see us. We were so excited to get the girls together, but apparently Shae and Brady had something else in mind!!! See for yourself.....

this was Brady's greeting to Shae

Just look at him, being all "bashful" LOL

you can see his grin even though he's not looking at the camera!!

Um, I'm pretty sure he's liking the fact that she's got her hands on him!! LOL

Shae, going for a "behind the back hug"

She got it!!! :-)

Now, I think Emily is getting a bit jealous!

Look, he's TOTALLY dissing his sister for a potential girlfriend!! LOL

Emily decided the grouper nuggets were better than her brother!!! LOL

Random Home Pics

2010-08-14T19:44:00.000-07:00

Just a few pics of the kids from around the house.

Emily LOVES to sit IN the book bin and throw all of the books out...TONS of fun for her, not so much for mom and dad and Brady who usually pick up after her!! LOL

Brady asleep in our bed with his pirate pillow and several of his "friends". For several weeks he was "sneaking" (we ALWAYS heard him) into our room after we put him to bed in his room. It wasn't a big deal because we were able to carry him back to his room and he'd go right back to sleep.

Reston Festival

2010-08-14T19:24:00.000-07:00

One weekend in July we took the kids to a local festival to celebrate that city's birthday. It was bigger than I was expecting and they had quite a bit for kids to do. The streets were lined with craft vendors and they had one entire parking lot full of things for kids to do: rides, entertainment, crafts, games and kid friendly food. We had a really nice time and as long as we're in town we'll be going next year!!

Brady had more fun on this ride than it looks, but I do think he prefers to ride with one of us.

I think this was a "tea cup" type ride that he liked

he LOVED this swing ride!

Brady had been dying to try cotton candy so we got him some and the verdict was.... not all that impressed! So now we know we don't need to buy anymore!!

Silly Emily

2010-08-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

A few pictures of Emily being silly!!! She has gotten so funny lately...she really keeps me laughing!!

Natural History Museum

2010-08-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago we went to the Natural History Museum so Brady could see the dinosaurs! He LOVED it!! Unfortunately, it was super crowded, which was kind of annoying, but I guess that's what happens when you live/go to a museum in a tourist destination!! LOL. We'll have to figure out a time to go back when it won't be so crowded!

Brady checking out the different textures on the shells.

one of the butterflies in the butterfly exhibit....pretty cool!

4th of July

2010-08-02T08:14:00.000-07:00

Our good friends, Mark and Margi and their 2 boys spent a week on L@ke Ann@ and invited several families to spend the day with them and also help celebrate Mark's 40th birthday (his actual b-day was in Feb but all of our snow ruined that celebration). We had never been to the lake so I wasn't sure what to expect, but we sure did have fun and the kids had a blast too!! We had so much fun, we're thinking of renting a place there next year!!

Emily looking cute in her 4th of July outfit!

Brady looking for shells on "the beach". (this little beach area was on their rental property)

Brady loved the crabs!

a little fun while having lunch

naptime for Emily

Dad and Emily getting ready for a boat ride

Brady on the boat with lots of the other kids!

Emily being silly

Time for another boat ride!

Dad and Brady on the boat

the beautiful sunset

the perfect end to a wonderful day...smores!!! :-)

Family Outing

2010-08-02T07:52:00.000-07:00

Alan took an extra day off over the 4th of July weekend so we decided to take the kids to the Rest@n Z@@. We've been here several times before but it's a really great little zoo, not too far from our house so it's perfect! The kids had a great time and as I recall it was too hot that day either, so we lucked out there! Here's what we saw:

the monkey's on monkey island

Emily and I on the wagon ride.....she's definitely checking something out!!

"King Julius" from Madagascar!

we got to touch this big guy's horns on the wagon ride....it's kind of scary!!! LOL

Brady feeding the goats

Emily checking out the pig

Brady giving his best "ROAR"

Brady with his Rhino friend

Emily checking out the goats

Brady on a pony ride. This is his first ride, all by himself!!!

He LOVED it!!!

walking to the car after dinner! A great day was had by all!!!

T@y St@ry!!

2010-08-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

I took Brady to see T@y St@ry 3 several weeks ago. It went well, other than having to take him to the bathroom THREE times!!! LOL. I think he liked the movie because he's still talking about it. I think I liked the first 2 movies better, but this one was still good....except for all the crying I did at the end!!!

Brady, Buzz and Woody waiting for the movie to start!

Enjoying his popcorn!!

Way Behind

2010-08-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

Somehow, I've gotten WAY behind on the blog...again. I am going to do my best to get as caught up as possible this week. It's amazing how quickly the time gets away from you, guess that has something to do with having 2 kids though!!! LOL

Nature Center

2010-07-06T11:15:00.000-07:00

Last week I took the kids to a local nature center and we had a really nice time, just the 3 of us! We saw, turtles, snakes, frogs, deer and many other critters. The kids also got to touch lots of different things like a turtle shell, a giant coconut, bones, tree trunks and many other cool nature things. The nature center isn't very big, but there was enough to keep us occupied for about 1 1/2 hours, which was plenty. After checking things out inside the center, we went for a walk through the woods. Brady is very into to collecting things on walks so he really enjoyed this!

Brady sitting on a cool butterfly bench

Emily checking out the huge coconut

Emily trying to touch the frog (it's the blob in the middle/back

Brady really liked this giant panda in the play area!

Emily touching the earth worm

Emily was mesmerized by this tornado thingy

on our walk

Brady checking out the stream

on our walk, we were lucky enough to see 3 deer VERY close to us

Brady LOVED playing with the dinosaurs

Emily checking out something in the touch area

Brady deciding what to investigate

This is the best I could get with both of them!!! :-)

Bathing Beauty

2010-06-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

Alan and Brady went to CT to visit Alan's dad over the weekend, so it was a girls only weekend at our house!! Emily and I had a good time together and I have to say one kid is WAAAAAAY easier that 2!!! LOL. We spent an afternoon "in" the kiddie pool out back and I think Emily liked having it and all of the toys to herself!!

How adorable is she??!!!

All smiles

Coming to check out the camera

Emily thought it was fun to toss Alan's flip flops in the pool!

And she really liked sharing the pool with Chelsea! :-)

Notice she NEVER got in the pool?!! LOL

Emily's First Haircut

2010-06-23T11:42:00.000-07:00

Emily got her first haircut last week!! It was getting a bit unruly and the dead ends needed to be taken off. We took her to one of those places in the mall that "specializes" in kids cuts and has the tv's and such. Alan and I both thought it was a bit pricey for a "first" haircut, but it is what it is. Really the only reason we took her to one of those places is because of how squirmy she is, so we thought it would be best to take her to someone who gives kid hair cuts all the time. In the future, I think we'll just take her to the same place that Alan and Brady go.

At first she did great by herself....

but I quickly had to sit with her.

The container of barrettes the lady gave Emily was very helpful

Brady was in charge of blowing bubbles for Emily

the blow drying didn't last long

All done!

Kiddie Pool Fun

2010-06-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

We decided to play in the pool last week because it was so hot. Unfortunately the hose water was very, very cold and I think that's what kept Emily from wanting to be in the water much. Nonetheless, the kids had fun!!

kicking the water is always fun

a little tussle over the beach ball

I LOVE this picture because you can tell just how much fun Brady is having

ooo, I can reach it

"Hello? Is anyone home?"

Let me try to get in this pool

you can tell by the look on Brady's face just how cold the water was!!

I think this picture pretty much says it all....Brady is ALWAYS laughing and smiling while Emily is much more serious and inquisitive.

Lunchtime Silliness

2010-06-23T11:02:00.000-07:00

I took these a week ago or so at lunchtime. Emily was having fun doing a "new face" and of course, Brady had to get in on the action!!! LOL

Pucker up!

Not to be outdone, Brady had to give it a try!! LOL

full of laughs!

Brady decided I should take some pictures of them together

Emily's not so sure about this pose!!

Time to fight back!!! :-)

Anyone else notice that all the good/cute pics I get of Emily she's sitting, strapped into some sort of chair???? LOL

Park Playdate

2010-06-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

A few Saturdays ago, we met our friends Shelly, Norman, Nyah and Ewan at the coolest playground!!! It was built for kids of all ages and abilities and is apparently one of only a few like it in the country, so we're pretty fortunate that it's only about 30 minutes from our house. Unlike traditional playgrounds this one has ramps to get on some of the equipment, several different types of swings, larger platform type attractions, running lanes for races, mazes, actual parking spaces for strollers and many other cool things. This playground is easily 3 times bigger than any other playground I've ever been to...it's HUGE! It's so big that I probably wouldn't take the kids there without Alan b/c you really have to be one on one. I should add that in the middle of it is a carousel! Needless to say we'll be going back!!

The swings are DEFINITELY a favorite for both Brady and Emily!

Emily hanging out on the plane

Brady doing of good job of navigating these steps

Some more steps

Riding the dolphin became a family affair!! LOL

Brady really liked the silly mirrors

Emily liked the dolphin as much as the swings!

This was a cool music board that Brady was into

Riding the whale

Frying P@n P@rk

2010-06-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday we didn't have S*ccer T*ts, so we decided to go to Frying P@n P@rk instead! We went with our friends Leah, Aaron and their mom, Julie because we all go to S*ccer T*ts together. This park is only about 20 minutes from our house and is the oldest working farm in the county. It depicts farm life from the late 1800's and early 1900's. It still amazes me this is in the middle of our county which is very suburban!! We started the day off with a tractor ride and saw a ground hog, some deer, the farm's crop fields and some horses. Then we explored the farm, had lunch and ended the day playing on the playground!! A good time was had by all!! :-)

Me and Emily on the tractor ride!

OMG, this is definitely one of the biggest pigs I've seen!! Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of her piglets.

Leah and Brady checking out the bunnies

Brady, Aaron and Leah checking out the chickens

Emily taking a peek for herself.....she was very interested in everything!!

Leah, Aaron and Emily hanging out with the sheep

Leah getting a closer look at the sheep while Brady plays with the grass!! LOL

I think he's trying to check us out!!

Leah and Brady running to see what was at the back of the farm

we found a peacock....

a turkey....

make that 2 turkeys!!!

My Mother's Day Flowers!

2010-06-01T13:05:00.000-07:00

The kids had these beautiful roses sent to me!! I think the did an excellent job!! Oh, and I got chocolates too!! :-)

Strawberry Picking!

2010-06-01T12:38:00.000-07:00

We went strawberry picking on Mother's Day weekend and the following weekend (when Grandma and Pop Pop were in town)!! None of us had ever done this so it was a lot of fun for all of us!! And boy, were the strawberries GOOD!!! I'm pretty sure Brady's favorite part was eating the berries!

FOUND ONE!

Daddy and Emily getting down to business

Here's another one

Emily had fun squishing them!!

MMMM, washed and ready to eat!!

He still loved eating the berries the second weekend!

Pop Pop and Brady getting to work!

Caught red handed...AGAIN! LOL

Grandma was definitely in her element!!

Time to go home!

KISS!

2010-05-18T18:50:00.000-07:00

Emily turns 1!!!

2010-05-10T11:52:00.001-07:00

We had Emily's Birthday party this past Saturday (May 8th) at one of our local county parks. The kids got hot dogs, chips, ice cream, and rides on the carousel and train!! Emily was lucky enough to have 8 of her friends there to help celebrate!!! ( I am sad to say that I probably didn't take enough pictures and the pictures I took didn't come out great b/c my camera was not on the right setting....sigh. I guess I should be happy with what I did get and I know some friends took some pictures so hopefully they'll be sharing them with me!!).

the Birthday girl!!

It was a H*llo Kitty theme

Lunch time!!

time for the train ride!!

heading to the carousel

fun on the carousel

getting ready for cake

mmmm, good!

she's not so sure about this!!

not too messy, not too neat

the clean-up crew (thanks Margi!!)

time to open a few presents

Despite the look on her face, she had a really good time!!! Happy Birthday sweet pea, we love you!!!

Easter

2010-05-10T11:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know these are really late, but better late than never, right?? :-) Here's a look at how we spent our Easter!!

Brady coloring the eggs.

getting a little help

Here's what the Easter Bunny left this year...Brady got T*y St*ory stuff and Emily got H*llo Kitty stuff.

she was much more interested in this soccer ball egg than she was with her stuff!!

Pez!!

checking things out

just look how happy he is with his T*y St*ry movie!!

The finished eggs made for good breakfast Easter morning!!

Outside Fun

2010-05-10T11:17:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from about a month ago or so when the weather was finally nice enough to be outside for awhile. We had a good time just hanging out on the deck playing on the climber and being silly!!

It's not very easy to get 3 people in a "self-portrait"!! LOL

Emily does this quite a bit with all sorts of things...not sure where she picked this up!!

TA-DA

ARRRRRRRRRGH (I think she's practicing for G@sp@rilla!!)

Brady looks SO grown up and handsome here...one of my favorite pictures of him!!!

SO serious!!

it's SO nice when the actually play together!!!

Brady's Referral Day, Emily's Been in our Arms 5 Months and a Major "Breakthrough"!!

2010-04-19T19:12:00.000-07:00

April 19th is a busy day here at our house!! Three years ago today we saw Brady's face for the very first time!!! OMG, I remember that day like it was yesterday! Brady has brought so much joy and love to our hearts and house (and a few gray hairs!!). He's such a sweet "big boy" and I can't imagine life without him!!

Today also marks 5 months since we first held Emily in our arms!! I can also remember that day like it was yesterday. She has changed SO much in just 5 months, it's really unbelievable. We get so many laughs, smiles, and giggles out of her now, especially Brady. She LOVES her big brother and wants to do EVERYTHING he does...and most of the time she does!!! LOL. I can only imagine all the good things ahead of us!

As for today's "major breakthrough"......Brady, Emily and I were in the car on the way to the grocery store and Brady and I had the following conversation:

Brady: "Mommy, I love Emily! Can we keep her?"

Me: "Of course we can, she's your baby sister"

Brady: "I'm gonna love her everyday in my heart and kiss her and hug her and kiss her and hug her and kiss her and hug her everyday!!!"

This brings tears to my eyes and is MUCH better than what he said on day 25 of having Emily home, which was: "Mommy, PLEASE take her back to Taiwan". LOL

Brady's referral picture... 2 1/2 months old....April 19th 2007

Brady 3 years old, April 2010

Emily 6 1/2 months old, November 19th 2009

Emily 11 1/2 months old, April 2010

Brady Says:

2010-04-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

Brady and I were just talking about my birthday, which is coming up in a few days. I was trying to get him to get Alan to get me something REALLY good!!! I know, that's wrong on SO many levels, but mostly I was just playing around!! Anyway, here is part of our conversation:

Me: Brady how about getting mommy some diamond earrings?

B: NO

Me: you don't think mommy would like diamond earrings?

B: no, how bout some crinkly shells?

Yeah, that's JUST what I've been wanting!!!! LOL

Me: How about getting mommy some wine?

B: No

Me: why not?

B: because you like wine in stores and in restaurants, you have enough!!!! LOL

I guess he's looking out for my best interest!!!

Sleeping

2010-03-30T12:18:00.001-07:00

Today at nap time, Emily was having a hard time settling down and was crying for a bit. I was keeping a close watch on the monitor and I KNEW she was tired so I knew it was just a matter of time before she fell asleep. Well, when she did finally fall asleep, she was standing up!!! Her face was pressed against the slats and she was standing while sleeping!!! I went upstairs in the hopes that I could get a picture, but I guess her legs got tired!! LOL Anyway, here's what I got!

Milestones

2010-03-29T10:45:00.001-07:00

Today I got my first "on command" kiss from Emily!!! It was so sweet....I said, "Emily can you give mommy a kiss"? And with that, she looked a me, opened her mouth and put her lips to mine!! And just to make sure I wasn't dreaming, I asked a second time and she did it again!!! :-)

Over the weekend we came to the conclusion that Emily is done with baby food!!! I've sort of suspected this for about 2 weeks I guess because the girl just stares at us and our food when we eat!! Anyway, we were on our way home from CT over the weekend and stopped at McDon@ld's for lunch. I got a table and sat down with Brady and Emily while Alan got our food. While we were waiting for Alan I started feeding Emily her baby food and all was going fine, until Alan showed up with the "real" food!!! She immediately just pushed her spoon away and started screeching. We ended up getting her a cheeseburger of her own and she ate a fair bit of it and probably would have eaten more if we would have let her!!! The little peanut is growing like a weed, right before our very eyes!!

Brady Says:

2010-03-17T13:18:00.000-07:00

I am going to attempt to be better at documenting all of the cute, funny, silly, ridiculous etc things that Brady says. Here are a few things he's said recently:

"No, Emi-we"

"You are the specialist cooker ever, mommy" (after eating re-heated chili that had been in the freezer for who knows how long! At least he doesn't expect too much from me!!! LOL)

"We are BEST friends mommy"

"What do you want for your Birf-day mommy" (after hearing Olivia (the cartoon) talk about birthdays)

"Mommy, let's watch Ice Age....I LOVE movies"

"Mommy, it's a nice day out today. It's awfully pleasant."

"Mommy, I wuv you. You are a princess"!!!

More Walking

2010-03-15T19:04:00.000-07:00

Here's another video of Emily walking (taken yesterday) and let me just say that even today she is walking a ton more!! For some reason whenever I turn on the camera she always falls, but when I'm washing the dishes or whatever she'll walk all over our kitchen!! LOL

Moving Out!

2010-03-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

One day last week Brady informed me that he was going to move to a condo!!! I asked if he had enough money and he assured me he did. He said Cinderella was going to live with him. And he said that he was going to buy a giant tea pot so that we could have tea together when I visit him!!!

I don't know if I should laugh or cry!!!

Laughter!!

2010-03-14T20:11:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this video!!! I love how something so simple makes Emily just giggle and squeal with delight and I also love that Brady seems to LOVE making her laugh so much. Now, if only I could get them to do this all day everyday instead of the normal antagonizing I'd be all set!!! LOL

CHECK UPS!

2010-03-09T12:04:00.000-08:00

I took both kids in for check ups on Feb 24th and I'm happy that both are VERY healthy!! Emily was in for her 9 month check up and she weighed 19 lbs and was 27 1/4 inches long. Both of these measurements put her in the 50-75th percentile!! During the visit the doctor and I had a funny conversation that went like this:

Dr: "Is she starting to pull to a stand?"

Me: "Um, how 'bout she's starting to walk!"

Dr: " OH! I'm sorry"

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing!!! LOL Otherwise, Emily is a very healthy, happy baby who is definitely on track both growth wise and development wise!!

Brady was in for his 3 year check up and weighed 31 lbs and is 36 inches tall or since this puts him in the 25 percentile, maybe I should say short!! I do find it interesting that the 31 lbs puts him in the 75-90th percentile....really?? The kid is pretty little if you ask me, but whatever, I'll go with it!! Brady definitely did not like when the doctor was checking out his privates... he started crying and wanted nothing to do with it, but the doctor ultimately was able to accomplish what he needed to!

So, we've got two healthy kids....life is good!! :-)

Here We Go!

2010-02-22T19:56:00.000-08:00

Let the walking begin.....oh, and for the record, she won't be 10 months old for another 8 days!!!! I have a feeling my life is going to change drastically VERY quickly!!! LOL

FYI....even though it looks like there's no video there, its there, just click the little play button on the bottom left of the square.

LOVE

2010-02-20T19:12:00.001-08:00

I think we're making some progress around here!! I love when I catch Brady and Emily playing together and laughing and having a good time. I especially love when Brady is actually trying to make Emily laugh!!! I love these two kids!!! :-)

I'm guessing from this video that Emily isn't going to find Halloween or ghosts very scary since she laughs every time Brady says "boo"!!!

Unbelievable Vacation....

2010-02-12T20:37:00.000-08:00

and not really in a good way!! Honestly, if this didn't happen to us, I would TOTALLY think someone is exaggerating!!! LOL

We left for Florida on Wednesday January 27th for a 10 day vacation, part of which was to be spent in Tampa and the rest in Orlando at Di$ney. The trip started off just fine but went downhill rather quickly.

We spent the first two nights at my parents house and even got out for date night!! We both had dentist appointments and I got my hair cut/colored and Alan made it to the eye doctor for some new glasses. On Friday we headed over to Tampa for the G@sparilla festivities. It was really great to see so many of our good friends and Alan had a good time "marching" in the parade. The weather wasn't so great so my mom, the kids and I were not planning on watching the parade, but it cleared up a bit so I was able to take Brady to see the last hour or so of the parade...we got to see daddy, so that was cool!!! And Brady got some really cool beads so he was totally happy.

On Sunday we headed over to Orlando to meet up with our friends Billy and Heather and their daughter Peyton. We had a fun filled week of theme parks and birthday celebrations planned. Monday we went to EPC@T for the day and other than the weather being a bit gloomy/rainy we all had a fun time, especially in Germany at the beerhaus (see pics in post below).

At about 4am Tuesday morning our vacation took a bad turn....Emily woke us up crying and she was burning up. Of course I had forgotten to pack a thermometer so my "mommy instict" told me that she was way too hot, so Alan took her to the hospital (which just happens to be next door to our timeshare) and found out she had a temp of 102.2. They gave her some antibiotics and diagnosed it as "a fever" and told us to give her the combo of Tylenol and Motrin and keep an eye on her....they were back home in an hour and a half! Alan stayed back at the condo with Emily on Tuesday while I took Brady to the parks. (Alan had purchased the 4 days/4 parks pass and I had a 6 day pass, so it made sense for him to stay back). Emily slept most of the day and seemed okay. Well by about 11pm she was burning up again so this time we both went to the hospital (we left Brady with Billy and Heather) and she had a 103.3 fever this time!!! They ran several tests on her and everything came back negative so they concluded she just had some virus that would eventually pass. We were to continue with the antibiotics, Tylenol and Motrin and bring her back on Thursday for a re-check. Alan stayed back with her again on Wednesday while Brady and I (and our friends) went to the M@gic Kingd@m. On Thursday I stayed back with Emily and took her back for her re-check...she still had a fever, but was definitely doing better. Meanwhile, Alan, Brady and I were all starting to feel sick!!! My parents arrived later Thursday night so they could spend Friday, Brady's birthday, with him. Well, my mom stayed at the condo with Emily and Alan, my dad and I took Brady to Anim@l Kingd@m for his Birthday. We had fun for awhile and then it started pouring so we headed back to the condo. We quickly ran out and got a cake and ice cream so we could have a "party" for Brady. On Saturday we decided that Emily was feeling well enough to go to the M@gic Kingd@m, so we all headed in, a bit late, for some fun. MAN, was the park crowded for February!! We didn't get to ride too many rides b/c the lines were so long, but we were having a good time UNTIL we got word that our flight home on Sunday had been cancelled because Virginia was expecting 10-20 inches of snow!!!!(I haven't even mentioned that the weather in Florida was HORRIBLE for most of our trip...it was either raining or cold the whole time we were there) We re-booked on a flight out of Tampa on Tuesday, but that flight ended up getting cancelled too!!! So we re-booked for Wednesday....yep, you guessed it, that flight got cancelled too!!! So we finally ended up switching airlines and booked a flight for Thursday afternoon, which FINALLY got us home....to about 2 feet of snow!!!! UGH!!!! So, what was to be a 10 day vacation turned into 15 days away from home!!! Needless to say, we were all VERY happy to be home!!!

(to see pictures from our whole vacation you'll need to scroll back to the previous page)

T-Rex C@fe

2010-02-12T20:27:00.000-08:00

When we arrived in Orlando we first went to Downtown Di$ney to walk around and have some lunch. We decided on the T-Rex C@fe (think R@inforest C@fe, but with dinosaurs) and it was really pretty good. Brady LOVED it and Emily seemed to think it was pretty cool too. Of course it's a bit pricey, but the food was actually good, so we didn't mind and we'd be happy to go back again on our next visit! Apparently we were too focused on the dinosaurs because we don't have any pictures of the kids here!! Oops!! LOL Here's some dinosaurs to enjoy!!