I'm gonna miss this....

So I took a long blog hiatus......I didn't plan to, but that's what happened. I so want to do better. I want this blog to help me remember, I want to post pictures here.....I hope I can do it.

Today was Brakston's first day of preschool. This is his teacher, Mrs. Hamm. I've worked with Mrs. Hamm for the last 8 years, she is a wonderful teacher. As much as I enjoy watching Brakston grow up, my heart was a little heavy today. I read a blog the other day that summed up my feelings of late. It was all about "I'm gonna miss this" and that's exactly what I've been thinking lately. I hate the hustle, bustle of everyday life. I have to remember to take time to read, and play playdough, and just run around outside. There's always so much to do.....I have a bad habit of letting life get in the way of having fun, of just being "together" because I know, this time goes by so fast. I don't "wanna miss this." There are so many that would give anything to spend more time with their children.

I found out today that a 16-year old student in my former high school passed away this morning. I went to school with his dad. I didn't know Brandon, but I had read about his fight with leukemia on facebook. One of my very best friends (since we were three years old) has a 9-year old fighting leukemia. She'll be having a stem cell transplant in a few weeks. I think about them and pray for them constantly.

I can't express my feelings adequately. I am, however, changing how I do things. I will read one more book at night, even when I've read it three times already, I will play playdough before doing the dishes, I will color with markers instead of watching tv, because I know, one day, probably sooner than I'd like, I'm gonna miss this.

So.....it's been a long time......

One of my new year's resolutions was to write on this blog more.....I haven't been doing a very good job, but since I had a request to put up an update, I'll try to do better.

The above picture is from one night last week. Brakston was in the basement with daddy and I was doing laundry in our bedroom. I thought I heard a noise, and this is what I found on the dining room table. Brakston had poured both the "white milk" and the "chocolate milk" into a bowl and said he made "cereal." He even put the lids back on the milk and put both milks back in the fridge. He was quite proud of himself.

In Brakston news, his language skills are amazing. He's learning how to use negatives. Last week, I made him mad and he said "I can't love you" to me. I didn't expect that from my two-year old, I thought I had a few years before that happened. Then, last night, I made him mad when I made him go to bed and he informed me "I don't love you." Sigh.............I told him that wasn't nice and he then replied, "I sorry, I do love you."

We're getting a little stir crazy with all this snow. He put on his boots earlier and said "I'm ready to go by bye now." We've had fun playdough filled mornings and Aladdin filled afternoons. I finally talked him into a different movie today, Beauty and the Beast Enchanted Christmas, except Brakston calls it "Booty and the Beast." Cracks me up every time.

Yesterday, he told me to "shut up," I turned around and said "excuse me" and the look on my face must have scared him because he said "oh, excuse me, I so sorry." It's really hard not to laugh at him.

I promise, more pictures soon.

Something I'd thought I'd never see.....

Changes

I guess I should start explaining the above pictures. This is Brakston's Halloween costume for this year. Brakston loves rooster and chickens right now so when I found this yesterday at Old Navy, I went ahead and bought it. It was too cute to pass up.

We have been experiencing many changes around here. First, Brakston has two new cousins. Erin and Bret finally got to bring Grace home from China after four long years of waiting. She is an absolute doll and we can't wait to meet her. Bret's sister Rachel gave birth this week to the newest addition to the family, Drew Michael. He's a little small, but adorable. We can't wait to meet him too!!

We have finally found a use for what was our "cat room" at the front of the house. After Sylvie passed away, LT had the great idea to move the laundry room upstairs. I absolutely love it. When I finish it, I'll post some pictures. We also moved the twin bed out of Brakston's room and put it in there as well so it's the laundry room/guest room. (funny story, Brakston actually thought that the twin bed was my bed and that's why he wouldn't go to sleep without me being in the room, he now understands where mommy and daddy sleep and goes to sleep without me in the room without too much fussing!!). When Brakston stops sleeping in the crib, we will turn it into a full bed, and put it in the guest room and get rid of the twin bed. We also moved Brakston's car bed into his room. He doesn't sleep in it yet, but he really likes it.

We also added a dog door to what we call the "breezeway" room. It's been nice to not crate Harley when we leave. We've been leaving he and Cassey blocked off in the breezeway and it's been working great. Brakston likes the new dog door too and uses it when I'm not looking.

I went back to work full time for the first time since we brought Brakston home. It's been a transition. We were so blessed to find a great place for Brakston to stay during the day. We started him in daycare last year, but took him out in November due to frequent ear infections. Sarah, who has watched him since he came home, stayed with him during the morning, and Bridget came in the afternoon. It worked out great and he got to be at home all day. This year, Sarah is going to ISU and her mom, Lora, is watching him at their house. Lora home schools her two younger girls, Evie and Lydia, and Brakston loved going over there. He never cries when we drop him off and it has taken the stress of leaving him away. It's been such a huge blessing.

I'm enjoying being back at work full time. I'm in two new schools, one I supervised in the last two years, but this is my first year of actually being there all the time, and the other school is where Margie used to teach at so a lot of them new me already. It's been crazy busy, moving stuff out and in, but I'm really comfortable.

The next few weeks are crazy, with lots of stuff going on, but I'll try to post more often.

In Memory of Sylvie

Today's been a hard day. I had to put Sylvie to sleep. Even though I knew it was coming, it was still hard. She was 17 and 1/2 years old, which is really old for a Persian cat. She was originally Lacy's cat, but when she was 3, I ended up with her. She's lived everywhere that I've lived in the last 14 years so she made a lot of moves!! I've never had to put an an animal to sleep. When Morgan died, I was there, and that's not something I ever want to repeat. While this was a little easier, it was still hard to say goodbye. I'll miss you Sylvie.

Life Lesson #1 with an almost 2-year-old

Important life lesson, never leave the gigantic, Sam's Club size Parmesan cheese container on the kitchen counter and run to the bathroom. (Boy knocks it over, dog breaks it open, and chaos ensues). All I heard from the bathroom, with the door open, was "uh oh, mommy."

When I was on the phone with my dad, I said, "Brakston was bad" and he looked at me and said "doggies bad." Sigh.............he's just too cute, even when he's in trouble.

Disney World

Here's a quick update until I can take the time to write a longer one. Disney World was a blast, we had a lot of fun and Brakston is still talking about "mouse," "Buzz," and "bus." (For those of you who don't know, he really enjoyed riding the buses to and from the parks).

This picture was taken while we were standing in line to meet Buzz and Woody from Toy Story, it was a big hit with little B!!