Catching Up...

Poor Brady has just gotten over a terrible double ear infection (his 3rd ear infection in 8 months) and an awful virus that caused a bad cough, cold, and a wheezing episode on Sunday night that landed us in Afterhours Pediatrics. He scared us...couldn't seem to get a deep breath. He had a nebulizer treatment here, then again at the pediatrics office, plus a dose of prednizone, to help get his breathing back on track. We have been back on the nebulizer, every 4-6hrs, even at night. I had to set my alarm for 1:30am, to get him up and give him his treatment...both of us didn't like that much!! Luckily, we have been cleared to stop the nightly treatments and we're down to only 3x a day until he's off his prednizone tomorrow (a 5 day prescription). So, needless to say, there's been little time for blogging. Now he's back to his happy self, back to sleeping and off the whining!

So, here's what's been happening:

I was watching Katelyn's best friend DJ the other afternoon and they had a blast making pasta necklaces at the kitchen table.

This is a painting Katelyn did at school. They had to make a sun, because they were learning God made the sun, but Katelyn kept painting and added grass, sky, and the tree. I'm so impressed with her painting...she did it all on her own!




Bryan's idea of babysitting! This is where he put Brady while I was in the shower and asked him to watch Brady!




Brady's first time in the pool with my friend Scram from college, visiting Orlando on vacation. We met with her famiy at their resort and hung out at the pool all afternoon...enjoyed strawberry daiquiries, the warm sun, and old stories. So good to see them!!

Katelyn and Brady with Grace and Sarah...Scram and Steve's little girls.

Sarah and Katelyn swimming and having a blast together!

K and B hanging out before dinner....

Brady with Bryan...enjoying playing video games (already)...

Learning to self-feed with some mashed up bananas on his tray. This is how Katelyn learned, but in true Brady style, he just made a bigger mess!

Okay, some food made into his mouth (after it was squished through is fingers!).

Sweet big sis...just started "reading" to Brady while I was getting his dinner ready.

Brady LOVES to sit on his comfy quilt, playing with toys. This tiger toy is one of his favorites.

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

Dressed in green and celebrating our Irish-ness (is that a word??)...St. Patty's Day was so much fun this year. Katelyn had a blast at school...everyone wore green in her class and they got to drink "green lemonade" at snack and lucky charms, which Katelyn LOVED (we don't have sugary cereals here, so when she gets fruit loops, lucky charms, etc. somewhere else, she thinks it's a big treat). They made some cute shamrocks, covered in sequens and glitter. K also made her own Irish dance routine...our "Lordess of the Dance" basically jogs in place with her arms down by her side. Very cute.

Brady and I went to the gym, then picked up food we needed to make our Irish dinner...corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes. We also found some Irish Soda Bread and grabbed some Guiness and had everything ready for Bryan when he got home from work. This is the first time I've made corned beef and cabbage and it turned out pretty good...

Today is also Danny Ainge's 50th birthday!! I have loved him for 25 years now...

Weekend with the Grandparents

Last weekend, we had the pleasure of spending the day at Sea World with my mom and dad. They also have passes to SW and Busch Gardens, so we try to meet up at one of the parks once a month. Katelyn loves the parks, and it's TONS easier with mom and dad's help. We spent the morning there, visiting the sting rays (you can reach inside their pool/tank and stroke them), then the manatees and the dolphin show, topped off by a picnic lunch at Shamu's Happy Harbor (kid's play area) and 2 rides on the Shamu Roller Coaster. The weather was absolutely perfect! Later that evening, we drove down to Tampa to meet up with Bryan's parents (Mama Nana and Papa PJ), who were in town after a 12-day cruise (lucky!!). Since they live in Cleveland, we don't get to see them nearly as much as we want to, but luckily we skype and we see them on our computer. We were very excited to see them. Katelyn had fallen asleep in the car about 10 minutes from Tampa and Brady slept the whole way. She was quiet and shy at first, a bit disheveled from just waking from a deep sleep, but warmed right up to PJ and they went out to see the goldfish pond in the backyard. Bryan's mom was able to hold and snuggle with Brady. Much later that night, after we were all sound asleep, Brady awoke screaming at 3:30am. Usually, he's just lost his pacifier and you give it back to him and he's good, but not this time. I picked him up, checked his diaper, rocked him, walked with him...nothing was working. I was worried he was going to wake the house. I gave him a bottle and that seemed to work, he sucked down 6oz and was quiet. As soon as I laid him back down, he screamed. I rocked him back to sleep and laid him down carefully, then he screamed again. We got out his car seat, fastened him inside and put it inside the pack and play and he was quiet. As soon as we drifted off to sleep, he started screaming again...back out of the car seat, calmed him down and put him back down and he finally crashed! We were up from 3:30-5:30, and we were exhuasted! Thank goodness my MIL and FIL were here and they took the kids in the morning. The weather once again was perfect, so we spent the day outside and then Bryan took K and his parents to the park, while Brady napped. We played some games (one really good one called "wavelength") while K and B took afternoon naps, then capped off the night with a cookout, where my parents joined us. A perfect weekend!

P.S.

I thought I was taking pictures with my camera, but I was using my mom's camera, sorry for no pictures with my in-laws!

A Week in Pictures

Katelyn dressing up before bed time. She also put together a "tap dance" in these high heels. A lovely and dangerous sight our tile floor.


Brady cracking up about something as he sits with Katelyn on the couch before bed.



Sweet moment of little brother and big sis together before bed.




Katelyn pretending to be Dora. She had me address her as "Dora" and marched around the house in the Dora backpack (for the Dora fans out there, sing it..."Backpack, Backpack...").





Ughh...I tried to attack our disaster of a back yard garden, which was overrun with weeds and dead branches, etc. I had Frick and Frack with me (always) and our golden retriever, who kept finding sticks, mulch, and a Terminix stake w/chemicals to chew... It was a gorgeous afternoon, so I thought Katelyn would enjoy being outside and playing in the back yard and Brady would enjoy some fresh air in his exersaucer...and I was wrong. Brady started his whining after 10min. outside and it didn't stop. A constant, annoying whine that just drives you nuts. Katelyn started off being very helpful by picking weeds, then got bored and started wondering off. And the dog was getting into trouble...let's just say I was a bit frustrated and pulled them all back inside after about 20 min. outside. I didn't get much done. Story of my life :-)




Katelyn's school had a fun pajama day on Tuesday. Here's Katelyn with her absolute favorite teacher, Miss Janet. She's been her teacher for 2 yrs. now and they are very close.




Katelyn's best bud DJ outside of school before Pajama Day. K was supposed to be in this picture, but refuse to pose with him...you can see her behind him. We had some major attitude issues before school and I had to pull her aside and give her a talk before taking her into school.




A chilly morning in Florida...had to bundle up the baby :-)



Look who's sitting!! Brady started sitting unassisted a few weeks ago and he gets stronger every day. He seems to enjoy his new trick!




What a big boy!! Right after I took this picture, he tumbled backwards and smacked his head hard on the floor and screamed. I know it won't be the last time he bumps his head...but I felt his pain...poor baby.

Katelyn was hiding in this box when Bryan came home from work.

Where's Katelyn?? She sat quietly in this box for about 10 min. until Bryan got home from work. She likes to hide from him when he comes home and we have this whole routine of "Have you seen Katelyn?" etc.