Don't Blink!

Another milestone! Along with the fact that you can have a full on conversation with him, he now can sit in the chair alone and get his hair cut! I can't believe my little boy is getting so big so incredibly fast! I need to decide what book what I want to put on his head so I can stop him from growing as soon as possible!

Onions??

I have never known a 2 year old that LOVES to eat onions! Well now I do.......BRADY! He loves them! It is so funny! The waitress even commented on how funny it was to see a toddler mowing down on onions!

The MOST

(Forgot the Camera at home! Sorry these pics are not that great!)

We went to the MOST (Museum of Science and Technology) with the kids. The kids had a great time exploring the exhibits and playing in the play land. Brady was in love with the train exhibit! Morgin loved the play land. Afterwards we headed to Olive Garden for lunch and to Toys'r'Us for some shopping. It was a great day spent with the people that mean the most to me! I LOVE MY FAMILY!

The Best Wedding Conversation EVER!!!

We had the fortune of sitting with the Bride's Mom and Dad at the wedding. Brittney's mom is HILARIOUS...to say the least! This was the story that she told us about the days prior to the wedding.

She told us that she was allergic to her mother's house because she had formaldehyde in there. Every time she stayed there she has an allergy attack and Friday was no exception. So her mother gave her some allergy medication and she headed off to get her hair done and by the time she got to the salon she felt like she needed to lay down but her husband had somewhere to be, so she got out and went into the salon and had to wait for 10 minutes and she felt like she was tripping! She then shouts out "My mom gave me hallucogens!" It was hilarious! She then continued to tell us about how she got her pantyhose on and that she needed to use Vaseline on her feet and legs to get them on! Then she said that she needed to go to the bathroom but was afraid that she would not be able to because she was so done up and then she shouts "I have been lit since yesterday!" It continues but you get the gist!

Needless to say this conversation had us all laughing hysterically and I had tears in my eyes from it! It was a very memorable dinner and I can't wait to see her again! She is the funniest mom ever!

Happy Birthday Jenn!

After the wedding we headed over Ruyi 1025 Japanese Steakhouse for Jenn's birthday dinner! This was the 3rd time we had gone there and I have to say I can never get bored of that place. This time the entertainment was not the greatest but we made the best out of it! We had a great dinner and met some new people! It was a great evening! Happy Birthday Jenn! (for some reason I didn't take very many pictures...sorry!)

Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Loftin!!

Mr. and Mrs. Loftin

Emma and Micah
Brittney and her Dad


Us at the Reception

Hope and Corky

Emma

Keith and Emma

Eric and Keith

Saturday was Brittney and Keith's wedding day! The ceremony was at Asbury. I am always amazed at the beauty of that church! Brittney looked AMAZING!!! The ceremony was beautiful! Then we headed to the reception. It was a great reception! Normal weddings have the wedding party slow dance....not Brittney and Keith! They had the wedding party dance to Apache! It was so funny! The wedding party had no idea! They were great about it and they all danced their hearts out! Eric and I sat with The Culbertson's and also Brittney's parents (a whole other blog to come soon!) It was a great wedding and we had a great time! We really didn't want to leave but we had another party to go to!

Congratulations to an AMAZING COUPLE! You guys ROCK!

Busy Weekend!

There were so many things going on this weekend that we had to pick and choose what we were going to do. On Friday after school I headed to Carthage to pick Kaedin up from her grandmothers house to come and stay with us for the weekend. Friday night Eric was working so I took the kids to McDonald's so that they can play (and I wouldn't have to clean up the toy mess! The girls played so well together! They pretended like they were sisters and had a great time! Saturday we had plans to take them tubing at Dry Hill but we decided against it because of the cold temps and the wind. So we took them out to lunch. It was a great lunch and Kate cracked us up the whole time! She is quite the character! Then we headed back to the house and the girls played and played! They also did some crafts together! Morgin was sad to see Kaedin go today (and so were Eric and I!)

Meet My New Phone!!

I upgraded to world of the Smart phone! I am so glad that I did! I like that I can get on Facebook anytime and I can message on Blackberry Messenger! It's like a whole new world for me!

I LOVE IT!

Milestone!

Tonight was the first time that Mr. Brady sat in a booster seat when we went out to dinner. He has been sitting at the table with no booster seat for a few months but tonight was the first time we tried him without a high chair in a restaurant! It is nice to have our family of 4 all at one table sitting next to each other!

BLT's

My Daughter is OBSESSED with BLT's. Every time we ask her what she wants for lunch or dinner or even breakfast for that matter her response is always: "BLT's" She goes through these kicks where she likes certain things for a VERY long period of time. I am glad that she is finally branching out from her normal palate of foods that she eats!

2 Little Monkey's

We have 2 little monkey's in the Richards' house! Morgin and Brady are climbing fools and it is driving us insane! I keep telling Morgin that if she keeps climbing on things that she is going to break a bone. I honestly don't think she gets it! I hate to say it but I think the only way she is going to learn is to fall! (I really hope that she doesn't!) Tonight she came down stairs to use the bathroom and she slid down the banister! What a kid! Brady has started to follow in his big sisters footsteps...that too is starting to freak me out! Let's hope that they stop being monkey's and return to being children soon!

Singing Fool Round 2

So this is the only video I took Saturday night! This is only the start of his singing.....enjoy "The Singing Fool"

Valentine's Day Double Date

At Maggie's
Eric and Keith

The 4 of Us

Bowling

Brittney

Eric and I

And we found Ted again!
(I swear everytime we go out we see him!)

Last night we out with Brittney and Keith. We went to Maggie's for dinner and beer. We had a great dinner and I could barely finish my meal! I was stuffed after having an appetizer and then salad...then I left my take out box on the table again! We had a great dinner. Then we went to Joe's to play darts and true to form the "Singing Fool" reappeared. After we played some games of darts and Eric got the bar singing we headed to Rock and Bowl. I haven't been bowling in a long time and it was a nice change of pace! We had a good time! (were a little stunned by the sticker price! but still had a great time!)

Teen Mom 2

True to form I have become obsessed with the new Teen Mom 2. Here is my take of the new season of teen mom 2.....

Jenelle- Can't stand her! I don't understand how she can be so unattached to her son! He is not her first priority! It makes me angry that she can be so selfish! I don't really like her mom either BUT she has stepped up and taken care of Jace...and that is probably the last thing she ever expected at this point of her life. I hope she wises up and realizes that she needs to be a mother! Partying should not be her first priority!

Chelsea- I like her...I think she tries hard with her daughter. I think she is a COMPLETE idiot when it comes to Adam. Somethings can't be taken back and that text message he sent her in her 16 and Pregnant episode is one of those things! I hope she is able to finish school so she can stop mooching off her dad and start providing for her family!

Kailyn- I don't understand this girl! I think that she needs to move the hell out of Jo's parents house! She is a good mom to her son and she honestly tries to provide for him. One question that I have is why the hell isn't she getting any financial aid for college? There are plenty of services that will help her get an apartment and etc.....why not take advantage of those and stop living with his parents! I am also bummed that her mom hasn't stepped up and helped out...I guess she thinks that she has because she gave her a car...BUT come on! I wish her the best of luck!

Leah- I really like her! I think she is my favorite! I am glad that her and Corey have gotten back together! I really hope that they can find a way to make it work for those girlie's! I cannot imagine being that young and having twins...actually I can't imagine having twins period! But she has taken nicely to the role of Mommy! I can't wait to see what is wrong with Ali. I know how it feels to not know what is wrong with your child and she and Corey deserve to know what is wrong with her.

This season is just as appealing to me as the last season was and I can't wait until I get a chance to watch it! (Eric hates it so I watch while he is at work!)

Differences

Having a girl first and then a boy has brought many new challenges for me! I LOVE having one of each gender..it is so neat to see how different boys and girls actually are. One thing that I have had to get used to is HOT WHEELS! They are EVERYWHERE! Morgin's toys seemed to be a lot bigger and hence was not an issue when it came to my feet! I cannot tell you how incredibly uncomfortable it is to step on a hot wheel car! I guess our moto is to go big or not at all .....because of that Brady has about 100 little tiny very sharp cars that he plays with ALL the time!

Another difference I have noticed is the ROARING! My son loves to roar! He came into the livingroom tonight and roared in my face...it was super cute!

Don't take this post the wrong way.... I LOVE HAVING A LITTLE BOY!!! I am NOT IN ANY WAY COMPLAINING....He is the sunshine of my life (along with Morgin) and I wouldn't change a thing...just trying to express how different it is!

Brady Update

Brady had a doctor's appointment today in Syracuse. He and I drove to Syracuse last night and stayed with Eric's cousin Kate and her family. We headed over to Upstate this morning and we got some good news!

If you remember in April of 2010 we went to the same office but the doctor that we saw that day has since retired, so we saw a new doctor today. He was GREAT! He examined Brady and has a few ideas to help figure out what is going on with him. He has 3 steps he wants to take.

Step 1: New medication (NO MORE NEBULIZER..unless it is needed!) He now has an inhaler. He also put him back on a reflux medication. He is thinking that the reason he keeps getting ear infections even with the super duper heavy duty tubes is because he is refluxing...am I convinced??? I don't really know at this point but I do want to know what is going on! He also tested his immune system to see if there is a problem there. We had the blood work done today so we will know soon!

Step 2: A bronchialgram...a scope that they will put down his nose to see what is going on down there and at the same time take a biopsy of his nose to see if the hairs in his nose, ears are working correctly.

Step 3: Some more advanced testing......which he didn't want to get into yet....he wants to see how the medication works first!

So Brady now has a super cool new inhaler that has a mask on it and he likes it because it has bears on it! He was super good today! We were there a very long time for a 2 year old and he was a champ! (9:45-1:15) Then we drove back through the snowy tundra called the Tug Hill just in time to pick Morgin up from school! I don't know why I get so excited to pick her up....I guess it is because I never get to do that! So I am hoping and praying that he responds well to the medication and doesn't need the testing done!

Happy 17th Birthday Josh!

Happy Birthday to my littlest (??..since he is taller than I am) brother Josh! We love you! Hope you had a great day!

ps: I must be getting old...you are 17! Where has the tiome gone??

Kindergarten Class Picture

One thing that I wish Watertown/Lifetouch would start to do again are the class pictures where you have the 3 rows of kids. These composites are nice but I think it kind of is neat to look back at class pictures and see how big we were back then! You just don't get the whole body shot in these composites! With that said...Isn't she so cute?

100 Collection!

It is almost the 100th day of school! Morgin's teacher sent home a challenge for us to collect 100 things. Morgin decided that she wanted to collect popcorn :-) So...last night we made a poster with 100 pieces of popcorn. We practiced counting to 100 by 1's and by 10's! She is getting so mature...I truly amazed at how much she has learned the last 20 weeks of school! I really enjoy doing these fun family projects with her! She has such a love for learning....I am one proud Mommy!

Snow Scenes

Here are some pics from last weekends snow storm...I hear that we may be getting more this week....I hope it is OK on Thursday...Brady goes to a specialist in Syracuse that day!

And so it begins...........

I remember as a child I would always say "It's not FAIR" (Actually who am I kidding I still say it!) Well this morning I went out in the HUGE amount of snow that was in our driveway to start the 4 wheeler. When I came back in Morgin was all dressed in her snow pants, boots and etc. I tell her we are not going out side to play just yet and that she had to take off her snow gear. She puts her hands on her hips and stomps her feet and yell "IT"S NOT FAIR!" I was hoping we would at least make to 7 or 8 with out her saying that...guess I was wrong!

idiots

This is what my sister saw as she looked out her son's bedroom window yesterday. Look closely you will see footprints and then a smiley face! Apparently someone tried to break into Justin's truck and thought it would be funny to draw a smiley face in the snow....WTH? (Yes they have very little snow in Texas but I guess that little bit shut everything down!)

Of course this happens just a few days after Justin left for Iraq!

People never cease to amaze me!

Morgin is Reading!!!

This was a book I made copies of for one of my guided reading groups. I brought them home so I could staple into booklets and she picked one up and read it the first time without any help! This is her first reading of this book! (thats why so many errors!)

She is getting to be quite the little reader!

Snow Day!

Today we had another snow day. Eric was home for this one and since he has been working the past 2 weekends and he will work again this weekend..he let me sleep in! It was great! (even though sleeping in means 8am...it still was refreshing!) We spent the morning playing with toys and play-doh. The kids had a ball and for the first time Brady didn't try to eat any! Then we spent the afternoon napping and Eric plowed the driveway with the wheeler two times!

Some people get their panties in a bunch over teachers getting excited about snow days...the reality is between snow days and summer vacations those are the only perks we get from our job! (plus knowing that we make a difference in the lives in children) Some people get company cars and yearly bonuses...not teachers!....we get SNOW DAYS!

Morgin's Report Card

Morgin brought home her second report card today. She did fantastic! She is reading and writing on grade level. She is also on grade level in all other subjects! She has an O (outstanding) in gym class too! She was very proud of that! We took her out to eat to celebrate her AWESOME report card! We are so proud of Morgin! She has grown so much in the past 5 months! She is so smart and so much fun to be around. I am the most proud of the progress she has made as a reader this last quarter! I bring home some books for her every night for her to read and she does so well with them! She also does her take home reading books every afternoon when I come home form school...I have to admit...that is my favorite time of the day! I get so excited when she self corrects a mistake instantly and when she figures out harder words all on her own!

Congratulations Morgin! Mommy and Daddy are so PROUD of you!

Miss You Already!

My sister's husband Justin leaves for Iraq today...sniff, sniff...

To Justin:

Stay Safe and we Love you!