A First and a Photo Shoot

Yesterday was a big day for me...
Brax went on his first sleep over!
Mike took him to Aunt Laura's house around 10 am on his way to go golf out that way. He's golfing again today near Aunt Laura's, so he'll pick him up after nap.
That's over 24 hours away from me!!!! I could write a whole other post on the issues I have with "letting go." Let's just say that this was a huge step for me!

I teared up a bit after I went inside, but Brax could not have been more excited for his visit!

Got his snack for the car ride... He was good to go!

While the boys were gone, I had more time than I knew what to do with!
It was actually pretty nice to have some time where I wasn't feeling like I had to be entertaining and engaging with one kid or another.

I purged my closet and got rid of any clothes that remind me that my abs are not what they used to be. I painted Harper and I's toes purple (pics to come, if I remember to take one!), and we did a little photo shoot. Her hair looks SO red in some of these, but it's really not... I would love it if it were... I PAY to get my hair this color!

This one is my favorite... I love the surprised look on her face!

This isn't the greatest pic, but she was talking up a storm and it was so sweet!

We took a nap break...

Then we were back in action...

I love this one!! Look at those sparkly eyes.

Friday Fun

Yesterday I took Brax to one of those pottery painting places.
They were having a preschooler class where they do story time, then get to choose a piece that relates to the story. (Frog or butterfly this time... Brax chose the frog, and orange and brown paint!) He was in hog heaven with all the paint brushes.

Choosing his colors.
The ladies in the store were SO sweet and helpful-one of them even burped Harper for me so I could help Brax paint!

Harper and her frog holding her bottle.

He was concentrating so hard!

Until they brought out the juice and cookies, anyway...

Almost done! We go back to pick it up in a week or so.


Back at home...

I rigged Harper's bouncy seat to be a little more fun...
It came with an attachment that makes noise (very annoying noise) and has a couple toys hanging from it, but I didn't like it because you couldn't change the toys out. (And did I mention the annoying music it played?) So I bought a pool noodle, a dowel rod, some velcro and these plastic rings and fashioned us a new bouncy play arch! She loves it!
(And I managed to keep all 10 of my fingers while sawing thru the dowel rod.)

I don't know why, but I love this picture.
Brax looks so old.

I'm having so much fun playing with my camera!
I still haven't the slightest idea what I'm doing, but I am loving the pics!

More Randoms

Harper doing a photo shoot for me...

I love her sweet faces.

Just a shot testing out the camera's capabilities!
Flowers are much easier than kids-they don't move!

Brax practicing his fine motor skills!


Harper is always so happy to model for me! (Brax is a little tougher to convince...)

Sweet Daddy's girl.

Her first time in her Bumbo seat!

Just being silly.

He WANTED to changer her diaper!!!! (We'll see how long that lasts...)

Check out Brax's new baseball glove from Nana Star and Papa T!
It's the real deal!

Happy kiddos... even with yucky colds!

Randoms from last week... and Happy Early Birthday to Me!!

Don't they look like they're enjoying themselves??

Here are some pictures taken with my early birthday present!
Thank you, sweet husband for my amazing new camera!
You will see that I'm still learning the ropes with all the manual settings and lighting!)

These were taken last Wednesday... everyone in the house except me was sick last week so I stayed home that day to take the kids to the doctor.
Here they are, snuggling in our bed in the morning :-)

Entertaining himself...

How cute is this?
It's Brax's first "self portrait!"
I would draw each body part, then he drew his rendition next to it.

SUYL-Favorite Children's Books

This week's "Show Us Your Life" at Kelly's Korner is about
our favorite children's books!
We LOVE books! We read before every nap and bedtime.
Here are just a few of our faves...

(I got the images of amazon.com, that's why it says "click to look inside."
You can't really click on the images here.)

I love "Stinky Face" because it is sweet, yet fun for boys. It talks about a mother's unconditional love for her little man, even if he's a stinky faced skunk (among other gross things)!

"Rainbow Rob" was one of the first books I started reading to Brax when he was about 3 months old...
I have the entire thing memorized! It is a fun rhyming book with great colors and textures.

"Are You My Mother" was the first book Brax started to memorize.
He will fill in the blanks as I read it and pause on different words.
He especially loves the "scary snort!"

"The Jesus Storybook Bible" is written in a conversational language. It is really geared towards older children I think, but Brax asks for it regularly. The illustrations are very engaging, and he really gets involved in the book and talks about the stories about Jesus' life.