What's New

I still haven't called to get the van fixed. Speaking Spanish makes me nervous and talking on phones makes it even worse so I've been avoiding making a call to the body shop. This must stop! Tomorrow. Although it was a lucky break we didn't because someone backed into the door and you can't really tell the difference between the old damage and the new. So I guess we avoided another trip to the shop? Ok... I know... I will call :P

As of today the chances of Josh not deploying are now about 70%... this is good. Hopefully he will be able to avoid deploying during weddings or baby births. We think he will be able to with the help of his chain of command, who happen to love having him around. He's just so dang popular ;)

Adriana got her ticket and will be here this week! It will be nice to have her back. She got everything taken care of back home so she can move in with us worry free. Hooray! We miss her.



Josh and I went out for a night on the town for our anniversary (which really isn't for a few weeks, but we thought he was deploying). This will be our 7th anniversary... can you believe it?! We can't. Time sure flies when you're having fun :) We ate a late dinner at The Midnight Rose restaurant, which was very upscale but surprisingly affordable. After that we scurried down to the Corral de la Moreria for a midnight flamenco show. AMAZING!!! It was one of the best dates ever :)

Another Great Weekend

Those of you who didn't already know: Josh got back from Germany on Friday night. Hooray! Now we'll see how much of that "10 days at home" he'll actually get to spend at home. He's at work right now... they just don't have everything ready for him to deploy yet (which isn't really their fault since it was such short notice). I'm not going to complain if he deploys a little later than planned... of course that may also mean he gets back a little later than planned, which would mess with our plans. So maybe I will complain after all hahaha. Our plans being, me going to Texas for the birth of my new niece or nephew!!!! YES!!! Vita's gonna have a baby!!! :D :D :D SOOOOOooooo excited. And I can blog it now because she already posted it on facebook ;) haha. I HAVE to be there. I just have to, that's all there is to it :) So... yeah... our weekend...

Saturday we went to the mall and spent hours there walking around, visiting the stores, and finding great deals. Surprisingly enough we bought mostly clothes for me :O I know, shocking... how did she let this happen?! Well, I was looking for something to wear and I realized most of the things in my closet have been in my closet for about 10 years. That's pretty sad. It's a common Mommy problem. We neglect ourselves and buy for the kids or the hubby. So, I got a couple sweaters and a pair of boots :) I also found some great deals on maternity clothes! Vita, I'll be shipping them probably by tomorrow (along with a few other things). I hope you like them! If not, sell them or something and buy better stuff haha ;)





Sunday the boys let us sleep until 11... seriously... no idea how that happened. It was splendiferous. It was nice and sunny outside so we let the boys get dirty for awhile. I took pictures of local birds. Josh played with his new macbook. Brennan looked on from the playpen. He's just dying to walk! We only had to wear light coats because it was pretty warm. And now... it's snowing. It reminds me of Ohio! I guess "mountain effect" is very similar to "lake effect" when it comes to winter weather. It will be a better backdrop for me to get pics of birds at least :)







I took some videos of normal playroom antics from the lil' bits a few days ago. Uploading to youtube now! Check the sidebar... if it's working finally. It's been glitchy lately. Annoying. Adios! Time to do the dishes :/

Sorry, But When Josh is Gone I Blog a Lot

After I got the kids down last night I worked on Tristan's scrapbook (finally). Now we're up to 7 months old!! Alright!! :P haha... yes I'm a little behind, but Josh and I spend a lot of time doing things together and during the day I have too many errands and chores occupying my time. My goal is to finish Tristan's this week and start on Brennan's. Hopefully it will be finished before Josh returns from deployment! Given my track record with these baby books I'd say that's fairly unlikely. I notice I take a whole lot of pictures when I have the 50mm on my camera. They just look so good! I love this lens! Thanks, babe :)



Today was fun. I let Brennan try out his new top tooth on an apple. He didn't get much off of it, but he was proud to show off the tiny chunks he was able to get a hold of. Most of them ended up getting picked out by me shortly afterwards. He got pretty sticky and thoroughly enjoyed the struggle.







Tristan happily dove onto the couch, dove off the couch onto the floor, and proceeded to roll around on the rug. He did this many many many many times. I think he learned this particular "event" from Noah. I don't mind it all that much. Boys have to be boys... they have tons of aggressive energy and if you don't let them get it out somehow they'll just beat each other up. Trust me. Broken furniture or broken noses... if you're really fortunate they can manage both! hahaha.







Brennan learned a new skill today! We have 2 little steps going from the dining room to living room and he can climb up them now. I watched him try to go back down and he can, but it makes me want to jump out of my skin because he goes head first! No thank you! I think he still doesn't have the healthy fear of gravity. He also has been trying his damnedest to say MaMa and I love him for it! Right now it sounds like Baba, but he'll figure it out soon enough. Dada is too easy... they always get that one first. He loves talking. He will yell and yell until someone yells back... and then repeat the same noise. I love the copycat stage.





Noah got a green face at school! Let's hope he can keep this up the rest of the week. Last time Daddy left we didn't discuss it much beforehand and I think it really upset him because he was bad at school. As soon as Daddy got back he was fine though. Coincidence? I think not. Noah's a smart kid. He finally understands, but still doesn't really get it... I don't think I do either. We're working on a countdown for us to do while Josh is in Afghanistan... maybe something with beads or a paper chain. Something tangible for us to look at and get a better understanding of time. Noah's been working on his reading a lot lately. He reads a book for school every night and (for fun) he reads a book to Tristan before bed. We also have some sliding flash cards that came with the "Yes, Your Baby Can Read" system (thanks Grandma H!!) and he LOVES them.

Expect my blog to be cluttered with daily nonsense and oodles of pictures while Josh is gone. I like him to be able to stay connected to us and I have way too much free time on my hands. He'll be home for a bit once he gets back from Germany. I'm hoping to get one more family trip in before he goes.

Simple Sunday

Josh left for the airport at around 9:30 when the boys were just starting to get around and eat breakfast. He'll be gone until Friday for some pre-deployment training. Like he needs it :/ Today I spent my time wisely, just hanging out with the boys.





Noah was so good today!! I don't know why he decided to be an angel for me, but he sure was. He helped me all day with Brennan, picked things up without being told. He even showed Tristan how to do a cartwheel :) Maybe Josh had a talk with him before he left or something. Whatever the case, it was great!





We got our tax return so I did a wee bit of shopping for Brennan the other day. He really needed some more winter clothes. I realize winter is almost over, but the sales were good and the clothes were too cute to pass up! I grabbed a few shirts for Noah too. He can always use more clothes. I would compare the kids store here to a Children's Place... same prices, general quality, and selection. Happy Mommy!!! Look how cute he is in his tiny baby sweater :) :) :) So precious. One of his top teeth has officially broken through. He isn't fussy at all while he's teething. None of my boys have been... lucky me! :)



Tristan was the same old Tristan today, but with more words. He was overcome with awe at the prospect of his carrots helping him see at night so I heard "Ma'ee I see dark" through half of dinner time. His nose has been running and he has a congested cough. No idea where it came from since he seemed fine until suddenly WHAM he has a raspy cough. His mood hasn't changed at all so he must still feel OK. His appetite has gone down a little, but not enough for me to worry. Hope it goes away on its own and then is gone from this house forever.



The day flew by. I'm hoping the rest of the week will too... and then slow down when Josh is home for this last little stretch before deployment. I'm sure it won't :P The first rule of deployment is you don't talk about deployment. The 2nd rule is that you don't talk about deployment ;) haha... not until you HAVE to (which is like the day before he leaves). Ignorance is bliss.

Dr. Visits

I took Brennan and Tristan in for shots and check-ups today. They're both doing great and handled the shots quite well. Tristan got 2, Brennan got 3... poor babies. Ironically enough Josh also got a few shots today for pre-deployment.



At 9 months old Brennan is 18.5lbs and 23" tall (almost 2ft). He's in the lower percentile for weight, but he makes up for it in speed and determination haha. She was very happy with his overall development and lauded me for nursing and all that. I like those kind of visits ;) Too bad it ended with shots! Brennan has officially gotten sick of baby food. He will bat spoons of baby cereal away if there is real food on my plate. Tonight he had rice and broccoli... with some cereal for dessert. He also gummed some bread into submission and snacked on banana puffs in-between.



Tristan is 28.5lbs and 35" tall (almost 3ft). He's 75th percentile or something like that for his height and 50th for his weight. I never remember the head size because it seems odd to me that they take it anyway. What does that tell you about someone? Oh goodness... he wears some big hats! Brain size, maybe? I'm sure there's a medical reason and it's easily found through the powers of google, but I am feeling rather lazy tonight so someone else can look it up for me ;) haha. Tris has been talking a LOT lately. Every time I try to get a video of it he stops though. He's talking more than Noah was at this age. I hate to imagine what he'll be like at 5 :/ hahaha... I love my Noah-Boah and his incessant jabbering. My current favorite word is "bullshit" which for some reason is how he says "blanket" so he says bullshit many many times in one day... "Ma'ee where bullshit?"... "HERE BULLSHIT!" "I found bullshit Ma'ee". Oh man... kills me every time.







It was sunny and in the 50's today so we played outside for a little while. Good times and vitamin D :) I took a video of Noah and Tristan making dirt burgers. I purposely tried not to intervene in any way so everyone could see how they truly act. Tristan even throws one of his patented full-body stiffening whining fits that he performs for me 20 times a day. What a gem to capture on film hahaha. Noah spent a majority of the time pelting me with a ginormous inflatable soccer ball. Brennan lounged in the stroller, chowing down on puffs... Tristan even stopped by to help him.



Everyone was generally happy until dinner time. Suddenly Tristan and Brennan both got fussy so we did a nice hot bath, very warm PJ's, some tylenol, some cuddles, and an early bedtime. Tristan had a slight fever and was overjoyed to finally be in bed. Noah was happy to have the tub to himself for the extra 15 minutes so he could dive for toys :) We lay down on Tristan's bed and read "The Day it Rained Hearts" since it's almost Valentine's Day! That was our day.