Cleveland Rocks!

Sweet Grandma June (K and B's Great-Grandma) and her long time beau, Laddie enjoying the swing outside.

Aunt Cathy playing balls with Brady...how did she know this is his favorite thing to play??

Uhhh....looks like more of a smother than a hug!


B's eating station!

On the plane and ready to go!!


We spent Labor Day weekend in Bryan's hometown of Cleveland, Ohio (actually, in a suburb just east of Cleveland...Willoughby). After finding a deal on Continental, Bryan agreed to fly instead of drive up north...thank goodness!!! We left on Thursday and returned the following Tuesday.
We have not been back to Cleveland in over a year...so our trip was long overdue (we spent Christmas in FL last year). This was Brady's first ever flight and Katelyn's chance to redeem herself after a horrific flight to Chicago in 2007 (she was only 2 1/2, but she was a nightmare!!). I was v. nervous about the flight, even though it was only 2 hrs. Brady has become a wildcard...not sure what baby/toddler you're going to get...sweet and angelic and cuddly...or squirmy, cranky, and miserable. Plus, his ears give him such problems!! Katelyn was a different story...we knew she would be awesome and she was! I surprised her with 2 new little princess dolls (Belle and Cinderella) in her backpack. We also packed some snacks, coloring books, barbie dolls and the dvd player. She sat quietly and played with her dolls on the tray and then watched a movie. Perfect child. After a cranky wait at the gate (one fellow passenger asked me where we were sitting and said she was relieved she was 8 rows behind us!). I kept assuring people he was a very good baby and people just nodded and forced a smile...you know they were silently praying we'd be far, far away from them. Luckily, Brady was terrific on the plane. He fell asleep on my lap, his head leaned against Bryan's shoulder as we were taking off and stayed asleep for an hour and a half. I was even able to read a magazine (special thanks to some new friends at the gate who passed on their In Touch magazine after I commented to them how much I liked Robert Pattinson who was on the cover). Once Brady was awake, he was quiet and ate snacks. I stood and put him in the seat on his own and he seemed to like that. When it was time to land, we put the pacifier back in his mouth and had no problem. The ultimate compliment came from the people directly in front of us who said they didn't even know there was a baby behind them.
Bryan's Aunt Nancy picked us up from the airport and took us out to lunch at a local brew pub called "Fatheads." OMG...this place was amazing!! The food was so good, the beer was delicious, atmosphere was comfortable and homey...LOVED it! Bryan and Nancy ordered "head wiches" sandwiches as big as your head. And they are not kidding. Katelyn and Brady had some of my pizza crust and played with toys at the table, giving us time to catch up with Nancy and enjoy our lunch :-)
Our huge lunches had to digest quickly, because Bryan's mom cooked a huge dinner! The weather was perfect for eating outside on the deck...so different from muggy FL!! The kids took to everyone and Katelyn had a blast playing wiffle ball with Papa PJ. Brady enjoyed swinging with his great grandmas on the deck. They were exhausted and at one point, Katelyn was blowing bubbles outside with Nancy and me and suddenly put down the bubbles and said "I need to go to bed right now." and walked upstairs to get ready. Bryan's mom put her to bed every night and Katelyn loved the stories and the special nightlight in her room.
On Friday, the kids stayed home with their grandparents and Bryan and I joined his Aunt and cousin for a fun day at Cedar Point. Hardly any crowd...weather was perfect!! Great day for an amusement park...but I'm not what I used to be in the roller coaster department and had to sit a few of them out!!
Saturday we took Katelyn to a friend's house to watch the Ohio State game and have lunch, while Brady napped and bonded with his grandma. Again, the weather was perfect! We were outside all day!
On Sunday, Bryan's mom hosted a huge cookout at her house and we had a great time catching up with everyone and meeting some new friends. She set up a ball pit in the backyard and the kids had a blast back there!!
Monday was a day spent with Bryan's dad at his home...he hosted another huge cookout! Katelyn got to ride Mary's horse twice...the second time Mary let go and taught her how to hold the reins and steer the horse. K loved it and had no fear!
And Tuesday...we headed back home. A quick few days, but wonderful ones! Looking forward to our return in December :-)

Brady and Katelyn at home

Brady loves to crawl (yes, STILL only crawling) over to the front door and stand by the window along the front door and look outside. He will bang on the window and giggle if someone walks by.

Katelyn has been spelling out words with her letter magnets...here is her latest, "cat." We are so proud of her. She sounds out words and is v. close to reading. I have to credit "Superwhy" and "Wordgirl" on pbs kids....amazing programs!!

Crawling races are on!


Katelyn falls asleep while playing in her room...we are trying to drop her nap, but she just gets too exhausted!! However, if she does crash, we pay for it at bedtime. She just can't go to sleep at night if she has napped, but keeping her awake in the afternoon is quite the challenge!!

Happy baby boy enjoying his waffle in the morning.

Future Ballerina

K absolutely LOVED her first ballet class. They have to wear a pink leotard, pink tights, and pink ballet slippers. I pulled her hair back and she was good to go :-) This class also covers tap and tumbling and meets on Monday evenings for 45 minutes. While K is in class, I feed Brady his dinner and let him crawl/climb around in the waiting area.
These lessons are a gift from her grandparents in Ohio...couldn't think of a better gift!

First Day of VPK

Getting right to work on Day 1...writing her name.


Building with blocks in her new classroom on her first day.


VPK= Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten...a free preschool program in FL for 15hrs. of preschool per week.
Katelyn attends Discovery Zone Preschool, about 10 min. from our house, right next to our church. She attends school on MWF, 9-2. Just about everyone we know currently attends DZ or has attended there in the past and we've heard rave reviews. We registered K back in January and she took the second to last spot in her class. This is a very structured, academic preschool, which we felt K needs. There are 18 kids in her class, 10 boys, 8 girls, and two teachers...Miss Mariecarmen and Miss Hunsha. So far K loves them both and has been working hard to impress them. She hasn't even received a warning for her behavior. The only "issue" we had is she is talking to her BFF DJ too much at lunch and doesn't have time to eat everything. Her teachers are strict and once lunch time is over, she is told to put everything away...no sitting at a table longer than everyone else to finish. Good training for kindergarten!!
K only wants to wear dresses to school and wears a bow in her hair most days. She has a pair of brown mary jane shoes she only wears to school and loves. Like I said, she is really trying to impress her new teachers!! She is even taking her time to color!! Wow.. well, I am impressed!! That never happens :-)

Good mom, bad mom

Every once in a while, this blog takes on more of a "venting session" feel instead of an update on what the kids are up to, etc.
This will be one of those blogs.
And to be honest, besides my mother-in-law, who is my most "regular costumer" by far, I don't really know who is reading this, but I just have the urge to vent...and I take comfort knowing I'm not alone and there are other moms reading this who can maybe relate.
So a few months back, a good friend of mine wrote on her blog that she was annoyed by some of the blogs she was reading that was all "my life is perfect, my kids are perfect...no worries at all...etc." (okay, she did a MUCH better job describing this). I was all in support of her, then I was looking back on my posts and I thought....wait, my blog kind of fits into that category. I don't blog every moment...it's mostly a way for me to update our out of state and out of country family and friends on what we're doing here in Orlando...but I do leave a lot out. Good and bad.
Like this week...I feel like I've been a really good mom to Katelyn...getting her ready and organized for her new school, helping her through her first bullying situation at our gym's childcare...and she's been excellent....for the most part, her behavior has been the best it's ever been (oh, that makes life so much easier).
But, I feel like I've been a bad mom to Brady. He has fallen and hurt himself right in front of me twice this week...both times leaving marks, bruises, and cuts. He is very small and is behind developmentally...13 months and not taken a step...he was saying a few words last month, but has totally stopped now and I feel like he's regressing rather than progressing and it makes me very, very nervous. He is cute as can be and is very affectionate, but I see other babies his age and younger saying and doing soooo much more. Our pediatrician is not worried and said that he is a very content baby and the more content the baby, the later the walker, etc. I bought it last month, this month I don't and I can't help but blame myself...I carry him too much, etc. Do you ever get to the point where you can mother both kids equally well??? I feel like my mom did and still does and she had 4 kids...I only have 2. Ughh! Share the secret if you know it!!

Downtown Disney with Ya-Ya

Facing her fear at the new restaurant at Downtown Disney, "T-Rex." First time we stopped in, she cried and hid from the dinosaurs. Now she wanted to prove to her Aunt Ya-ya, that she was no longer afraid :-)

Making potato heads at the toy store...Katelyn told Ali, "now we need to meet each other" and the potato heads are introducing themselves.


Katelyn and Ali create potato head dolls...loved all the hands-on tables in the toy store. K spent a long time at the my little pony one.

Brady, Kate, Buzz, and Ya-ya.

Katelyn and I pose with Buzz.


Brady in jail after trying to escape the splash pad for the last time...not happy with me!!


Katelyn and Brady have the large splash pad to themselves and loved it!


What baby doesn't love water...even if it's just a puddle???


One of K's favorite places...Basin...smelling soaps at Downtown Disney


My sister Ali, AKA "ya-ya" (that's how she used to see her own name and it's stuck, katelyn and brady don't know her by any other name) met us at Downtown Disney Thursday morning. We haven't been down there in months (avoiding all tourist areas in the summer....crowds + heat = cranky me), but DD is empty in the mornings. We grabbed a coffee and K and B went wild at the empty splash pad. I let Brady go in his clothes and he just crawled, splashed, and laughed. He was even busted looking at an empty mickey-mouse shaped hole and then water would blast into his face...and he really didn't mind at all. After about 15 min, he realized he could wonder off the splash pad and crawl far away, so I spent quite some time carrying him back to the splash pad before he was removed and changed and strapped into his stroller. Katelyn in the mean time had a blast running around, collecting water in a bucket, and then making a new friend named Jenny.
We got some lunch at our spot, The Earl Of Sandwich (awesome place! and on the cheaper side for disney!), then walked around the shops. Brady fought sleep and was a bit cranky and pitched his pacifier at some point and lost it. He crashed on the way home, then slept another 2 hrs, before I had to wake him at 4pm and he was back in bed for the night at 6pm. Talk about worn out!!! We seriously had a great time and we're so glad Ali is so close in Tampa!

Becoming Best Friends

K's new job is to feed Brady his post-dinner jar of baby food (he eats table food first...and lots of it!...we top him off with a 3rd stage baby food jar and he gobbles it up...it doesn't look like it, but this boy can eat!!!).


Dinner time together, check out Bacino positioning herself under the chair.


Driving the grocery cart side by side.....fun!! And it keeps them so quiet...I love it!!



While K was watching Bacino in the backyard, Brady started banging on the glass door for her. So sweet!!