Fun Fall Pics

The other day we played out in the leaves when I got home from work.

I got some great photos! (And had lots of fun PICNIK-ing them!)

Visiting a REAL Train

On Sunday we drove like 40 minutes to go on some old-school train ride, only to find that the engine was broken down!!!! We still got to look around though, and Brax seemed to enjoy it.

It was straight out of the '50's!

The dining car.

"First Class"

Brax said, "I wanna see his face!"

(Like on Thomas)

Weekend Randoms

He loves his trains!

Inspecting.

Game Day!

Having fun at the bookstore.

Waffles, dipped in syrup that he pours himself, are his new favorite breakfast.

The Kashi Honey Wheat waffles are really good!

" Drawing" on the front door.

Just playin'.

PEE PEE IN THE POTTY!

No, there aren't any photos to document this joyous occasion (surprisingly enough), but I have to blog about it!

We haven't really forced the potty training issue with Brax, mostly because I'm being lazy. I'd much rather change a dirty diaper than dirty underwear/pants/socks/shoes/sheets and clean the floor/carpet. I figure, when Brax feels like going in the potty, he'll tell me. Occasionally, I will sit him on the potty, usually just for a photo opp. What's cuter than a toddler "reading" while sitting on the potty???

So tonight, as I was getting his bath ready, Brax tells me that he wants to go pee-pee in the potty. I suggested he sit on his little potty that we have next to the big one in his bathroom. He said, "No, I wanna sit on the BIG potty." So I took off his diaper, plopped him on there backwards and told him to hold on to the seat while I finished filling the tub. Not 30 seconds later, I heard PEE coming out!!!!!!! I could hardly contain my excitement, but I did so as not to cause any stagefright. He let it all out, then wanted to flush. Then I let out the cheers! We ran out of the bathroom to holler the big news to Daddy. Brax announced to him excitedly, "I PEE PEED IN THE POTTY, DADDY!"

Aaahhhh, this is such an exciting milestone! Maybe he'll be fully trained by the time Harper comes! Woo hooo!!!!!!

2 Yr/3 Mo Stats and Braxisms

HEIGHT/WEIGHT/TOOTH COUNT:

29 1/2 lbs, 36 inches tall, 16 teeth (still waiting on 2nd molars). Also, he had pneumonia for the first time this month and got tubes put in his ears.



NEW TRICKS:

• Makes up rhymes (they don't always contain real words, but they do rhyme!). The most popular one has been "Pat sat on a kitty cat." Over and over and over and over again.
• Sufficiently washes his hands by himself (tops, palms, and in between his fingers).
• Can take off his jacket (loose ones), pants and socks by himself.
• Sat through a haircut without fussing/crying/flailing for the first time EVER (Daddy came with us this time--What is it about Dad's that makes children automatically behave????)
• Sang the whole alphabet (once) to Grammy on the phone.
• Sunday, 10/25--PEED IN THE POTTY FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!

FAVORITE FOODS:

• Waffles, torn in strips so he can dip them in syrup. He likes to squeeze his own syrup in the little bowl.
• Boca burgers (veggie burgers) with cheese and ketchup-no bun.
• Orange juice (asks very nicely when we're drinking it, "Can I have some your juice, please??"

FAVORITE BOOKS:
Green Eggs and Ham, If You Give a Moose a Muffin, The Jesus Storybook

FAVORITE TOYS/ACTIVITIES:
Flashlights, sponges (I only give him brand new ones!), trains

DAILY ROUTINE:
Sometimes sleeps till 8:30!!! Nap at 1, for an hour+, to bed at 8pm


FAVORITE SONGS:
Skip to My Lou, BINGO, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

DISLIKES:
When we put the TV to rest--we felt like he was getting way to addicted to watching TV--asking for it ALL the time, from the time he woke up till he went to bed, he was always wanting it on. So as of Oct. 22, we have decided no TV at all for awhile. The first two days he got mad about it a few times, but now (4 days in) he seems to have forgotten about it. It's amazing what you get done and the creative ways you can find to pass the time with no TV.


MOMENTS I DON'T WANT TO FORGET:
For a few nights when I would put him to bed, he wanted to lay on my belly and "sleep by Baby Harper." He actually fell asleep like that a couple of times. Now my belly is too big, and it's uncomfortable!

Lately he has been grabbing my face with both hands and giving me big wet kisses. That probably explains why he and I kept getting sick all month!


BRAXISMS:

• I swatted his bottom because he kept standing up in the bathtub-he said, "Leave my body alone!"
• Woke up in the middle of the night dreaming and yelling, "Mommy, leave my hair alone! Don't cut my hair."
• While changing his diaper, holding his legs up so I could wipe the poo, he says, "Let go of my shin!!"
• Says, "It's RUINED!" when something breaks or comes apart.
• While laying in bed, getting ready to go to sleep he announced to me, "I just tooted, Mommy! I blew bubbles in my pants!"
• I had a jar of candy corn sitting on the entry table. He would constantly say, "My tummy hurts. I need a piece of candy corn." (I hid the jar of candy corn. His tummy never hurts anymore.)
• Makes a mess, then says, "What a MESS!"
• Asked me to turn the TV on. When I told him the TV was taking a break and that he should play with his toys instead, he said, "NO! My toys are taking a break, that's why I wanna watch TV!" How's that for logic?!
• Lifted my shirt and said with a chuckle, "Look at your fat tummy!" I'm praying he doesn't do this to the next person he sees with a gut.
• Eating Teddy Grahams and pretzels. Just wanted to dig out the TG's, and when they were almost gone, he looked in his snack bowl and said, "Teddy, wherrrrre arrrre yooooou? There you are! Yessssssss!"
• I asked him if he wanted some water, he answered, "I don't want any. Thank you though."
• Kept saying "Good grief!" randomly one day.
• In Pop Pop's computer room. When I peeked in and asked him what he was doing, he ran out and said, "I better get outta' here!"

Belly Progression

What a difference 5 months makes...

In the size of my belly AND my tan!

I can't get this to show up any bigger (as if I need my belly to look any bigger, anyway) but I think you can click on the image and it will open full size in a new window.

Craftiness and The Belly

I made (and by made I mean I "embellished" existing articles of clothing) Brax's Halloween costume last Sunday! To give myself a little crafty credit, I did make the hat from scratch.

And to give myself a little more crafty credit (because I'm really not that crafty), Mike even commented that Brax's costume was "internet worthy!" To quote my usually un-impressable husband exactly, he said, "That's pretty freaking cool."

That's the ultimate compliment, coming from him!

So here it is. I may take better pics later...

These really don't do it justice, if I do say so myself :-) Hee hee hee.

I bought the overalls and flannel shirt at a consignment store for under $10 total.

I had the felt, leaves, and raffia from other projects.

I hand-stitched little felt patches on the knees and elbow, and hot-glued some fake leaves on.

I hot-glued raffia to strips of felt, then hot-glued the strips into the cuffs, under the collar, and inside the pockets of the shirt and bibbers. I did it this way so the felt would keep the raffia from being scratchy. I just noticed that I forgot to do around the ankles of the bibbers!

The hat was quite a chore. I measured his head, then just kind of winged it from there. I used my sewing machine to put it together, then hot-glue to add the other stuff. I have 11 more days to convince Brax that this is the coolest hat ever and that he should leave it on his head the entire time he is trick-or-treating.


Another sewing project--

I attached a band of knit fabric to the tops of my scrubs to make them into maternity pants. They make maternity scrubs just like this, but they don't come in long lengths like the regular ones do. So with the help of my MIL, I made my own!

When The Belly gets bigger, I can keep the panel up like this.

But for now I just fold it over and it keeps my britches from falling down under my belly.

Sidenote: The line on my belly and smears you see are a shadow and toothpaste splatter on the mirror!

Randoms

It was so nice yesterday, we got to venture outside!

Brax has another bad cold (but no pneumonia again--yet) so we had to lay low again last weekend. Yesterday I brought his chalkboard easel out and he had fun drawing and erasing, drawing and erasing. I like using the easel instead of the concrete so he doesn't get chalk all over his pants!

Daddy found Brax a dead locust to play with.

Fun.

Hunting for rocks to throw down the drain.

And leaves...

Testing me to see if he could get away with going in the street

to push the leaves down the drain too.

Don't let this fool you--he has yet to deposit anything in the potty.

He just likes to cop a squat there before bath time.

I suppose that's a start, right????

Pray for Baby Jackson

Our friends, Chris and Sara, had this beautiful baby boy on Sept. 24th. Mike used to play pro ball with Chris. Baby Jackson was born with some type of defect in the way his bowels were formed, and surgery hasn't corrected the problem like they anticipated. He is still in the hospital, and is having to have his little body's waste removed through a tube in his nose. Please visit their Caring Bridge site and say a little prayer. Click HERE to go to the site.

One Last Cute One...

Brax looks so much like his Daddy!

At Grammy and Pop Pop's

Playing trains on the make-shift track!

Pulling stuff around in the wagon, making a mess as he goes.

Here is Brax playing in the study with Daddy's old spaceship.

He had gone in there and shut the door (knowing that this room is usually off-limits.)

I knocked on the door and said, "What are you doing?????"

He took his spaceship, ran out the door and said, "I betta' get outta' here!"

Making pancakes with Grammy.

"I do it! I do it!"

Coloring w/ Uncle Derek.

Can you guess what team this family roots for???

Playing with Cody, the neighbor's dog.

Making cookies.

Playing with Uncle Spencer.

We went to the Orr Family Farm while Daddy and Pop-Pop went to the OU game--

The train was Brax's favorite part, of course!

Riding the pony! I was trying my hardest to avoid the poop.

Riding pedal cars with Grammy.

Jumping on the moon walk thing.
It was pretty chilly, so we didn't stay as long as we would have liked, but it was still a good time!

And here's a preview of Harper's bedding (the bumper and crib skirt, so far)!!!!!

I couldn't fit it all in our suitcase for the flight home, so Grammy is bringing it next time they come here. I can't wait to get it all put together!