The Beazer Family

10 again, again

2012-02-02T20:39:00.000-08:00

Its been awhile since I've done this, so here goes.

1. I've started Insanity again and after almost 2 weeks, I've gained 4 lbs (it has to be muscle, right? right??). Wondering when can I expect my six-pack?

2. My kids have been loving Parent Preschool again, we've switched to mornings this time and its been way easier for Cache, he's had no problems going to his class since we've switched and its great for them to be out of the house. But I'm not sold on the Gordon Neufeld theory for the mom's class.

3. No matter what anyone says, kale chips DO NOT taste "just like potato chips".

4. We moved Cache into a bed. We just bought him a toddler bed for now. It was on sale and cheap at Toys R Us, it matched his dresser, and we could use a crib mattress. He's fallen out a few times, but other than that its been a super easy adjustment, both naptime and night time. When we moved Brody to a bed a couple years ago, we moved him right to a twin bed, but I couldn't bring myself to put Cache in such a big bed, he's still so tiny!

5. So random, but I saw Tim Tebow on Jimmy Fallon last night. I know Casey can't stand him, but I was just so impressed by his demeanor and his charity work and what kind of values he seems to have. As a mom of two boys, I would way rather have my kids look up to someone like that than a player that has been arrested for DUI's and drug possession and has 8 kids from all different moms, no matter how talented they are.

6. We have had the strangest illnesses this winter. We started out with ringworm (Cache still has a little bald spot on his head from that and its not growing back!), followed by chicken pox, followed by just some regular colds that ended up turning in to croup for Cache. It was our first experience with it, and a little scary, but a quick shot at the hospital cleared it all up.

7. These are Brody's absolute favorite pj's. They were hand me downs from Cade, and this picture does not even do it justice to how short they actually are. But he just loves them.

8. I think its funny we've run into Baldry's twice in the last month and a half at two different burger places. Maybe Five Guys next time Lindsay?

9. I always love to get recipes on people's blogs because I know they've been tried and tested, and I love getting new ideas. So I thought I'd post one, let me know if you try it and what you think of it! My family loves this, and I think my mom actually got the recipe out of the Friend years and years ago. I usually serve it with coconut rice.

Sweet and Sour Chicken
4 chicken breasts
1 egg
Bowl of cornstarch

Start with chicken breasts, cut into big cubes. Dip in beaten egg, then in cornstarch and put in frying pan. Fry in a little oil until lightly golden on both sides (does not need to be cooked all the way through). Put in roaster.

Sauce (if you use any more than 4 chicken breasts, I'd double this)
3/4 cup of sugar
4 TBSP ketchup
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup vinegar
1 tsp soya sauce

Pour over chicken, bake in roaster at 375 uncovered for 50 min-1 hour, turning every 15 minutes.

Its a pain to make, but seriously so good. And you usually have everything you need in your cupboards anyway.

10. Loved the weather today. Brody took his bike that he got for his birthday outside for a test run today and did awesome with no training wheels.

And a bonus one,

11. Casey and I finished the first two seasons of Modern Family. I can't decide if I love Phil or Cam more. Or maybe Gloria.

Christmas in Pictures

2012-01-05T14:48:00.000-08:00

Casey took Brody to the World Junior exhibition game in Lethbridge, Russia vs Czech. I think Brody liked his mini donuts and blue lemonade more than the game, it was the first thing he told me about when he got home.

This is the best picture I could get of the new Christmas pj's:) I've bought Brody pj's every Christmas since he was a baby, and every year except the first, he puts them on, doesn't like them, and changes immediately into his old ones.

Cache sneaking a drink of the chocolate milk we left for Santa, had to make sure it tasted just right.

Christmas morning.

Christmas morning, the boys slept in until 8:00! We opened presents, had a quick breakfast, then headed off to church. It was a perfect sacrament meeting for Christmas with lots of music and I loved it. The boys played with their toys, Cache had a nap, then we headed to a great Christmas dinner later on at the Beazer's (which of course I forgot to take any pictures).
We headed up to Spruce Grove a couple days after Christmas, and had lots to keep us busy while we were there. And lots that I didn't take pictures of again (I need to get better at that, maybe a new camera would help me!). We went swimming, played with cousins, met my dad (the boys call him Cowboy Grandpa) at Chuck E. Cheese, where the big kids AND the little kids had so much fun playing games, Casey got to go to another world junior game, this time Canada vs Czech, we got to meet Baby Austen finally, went shopping at West Ed, snuck in a chick flick with Jackie and Megan, had "Christmas Eve" at my moms house, and opened more presents. We also spent New Year's with the Flexhaug's and some of their friends, with Chinese food, ice cream, and games, and where we barely made it until midnight.

New dress up clothes!

Intense game of Hungry, Hungry Hippo.

The only picture I took of Austen, wearing his special Batman outfit just for Cache:)

So happy my Grandpa could make it to the festivities, he had a serious health scare at the beginning of December, but is finally on the mend, slowly.

Jenga gets a little competitive, especially when you have Casey making the rules.

Finally home again and trying to enjoy the warm temperatures and play outside, whenever then 90 km winds slow down and let us.

What do YOU do with the chicken pox?

2011-12-19T22:21:00.000-08:00

Just one of many "movie nights". The Grinch is always better when your wearing a superman cape.

A very mild outbreak (like as in less than 5 spots on each kid) of chicken pox at our house. The boys are hardly even bothered, other than Brody is a little itchy. I saw a few red scaly patches on Cache and didn't think a thing of it until it showed up on Brody too. Last time I ignored a rash on those two, it turned out to be ringworm, so I packed them up and off we went to the doctor, who let us know what it was. So, we've been home bound for a little while, going a little crazy, but at least it will be gone (or not contagious anymore!) by Christmas. And yes, just in case you were wondering, they were vaccinated.
I guess that's the reason its really mild (I would have preferred it didn't show up at all, but what do you do?)!

"Mom, take a picture of us playing Batman". Again, the superman cape. I have it on good authority that Santa got them reversible Superman/Batman capes off Etsy.

A little hot chocolate.

Another movie night, this time Polar Express.

He loved it, I promise.


Major fort construction, of course by Dad, Mom's just not that creative.

So, we've been trying to keep entertained until the boys aren't contagious anymore, which I think is soon, since there have been no new spots for a few days. Casey woke up this morning with the stomach flu, and I have my fingers crossed that no one else gets it. And if they do, which is probably inevitable, that it is before the weekend! I am determined for everyone to make it to Christmas healthy.

And just a little note I wanted to write down before I forgot, cause it was just so darn cute. I was up this morning with Brody, and it was still dark out and a cattle liner pulled in with all the lights all along the trailer on. Brody looks at me and says,"Oh look Mom, a Christmas truck!"

A very Merry (and healthy) Christmas to everyone!

Just some pics

2011-12-09T14:31:00.000-08:00

This is what we've been up to lately! I wish I was a super, duper crafty mom that had all sorts of Christmas activities and fun for my kids, but alas I am not. We've managed a few things though.

This was the last week of November if you can believe it, hoodies and green grass!

Pudding finger paint at Parent Preschool. Brody doesn't love to get dirty, so he was done not too long after this, Cache on the other hand......

....doesn't mind a little mess!

Bad picture, but this was the excitement on the Ridge a couple weeks ago. Glad everyone stayed safe.

Decorating, Batman in hand as always.

Was too tired to finish chewing his KitKat.

Gingerbread house with Dad.

Oh wait, I was there too, my children really do have a mother, no makeup and sweats and all!

Ward Christmas party, they had pictures done at the mall with Santa too, but I am too lazy to upload them. They look pretty much the same, I think they are even wearing the same shirts.

If you look back at last year, you will notice a slightly different expression on Cache's face. He thought Santa was great this year!

Fun in the snow.

There you have it, lots of pictures, little writing. Aren't those the best kinds of posts?

Merry Christmas everyone!

Better late than never

2011-11-22T13:51:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to Brody!! He turned 4 on the 15th, and here's what he's up to lately:

1. Got a new bike for his birthday that he is learning to ride. He's had a Strider, so this is the first bike with pedals for him. Took a little time and frustration to get the pedals figured out (he kept pushing back and hitting the brakes) but he did and he's getting the hang of it! So far he can just ride back and forth in the basement, and once out in the shop here, but I'm sure once we can actually go outside, they'll be no stopping him! I have a video but the internet is super slow today (maybe due to the 100km winds?) and it won't load, so maybe next time.

2. Is the best big brother, him and Cache are the best of friends. They have their moments, but for the most part they play really well, and Brody is super protective of him. He also LOVES his dad, and always says that "Dad is my best bud".


Notice the matching shirts?

3. Is 40 lbs, and wearing 5T clothes, and I've even had to start buying him some Boys XS. It makes me a little sad (not because he is growing up, but because boys clothes are more expensive than toddler!) He also still will only wear jeans everyday (except Sunday).

5. Is just starting to have an interest in learning how to write letters. He's known his alphabet (upper and lower case) for about a year and half, but had no interest before now in learning how to write it. That being said, he also doesn't have much of an interest in anything crafty, coloring, etc.

6. Loves anything boyish-playing baseball, trains, trucks, MarioKart, playing outside, Superheros, etc.

7. Still has a temper and can throw a tantrum with the best of them, but has mellowed ALOT in the last year.

8. Loves to pray, and comes up with funniest things (the other night at bedtime Casey said he was thankful for Heavenly Fathers plan and glow sticks).

9. Eats pretty much to survive. He's not picky and usually eats what I make, but it is a challenge to get him to the table and sit long enough to eat. Food is not something that he enjoys, its just something he has to do.

10. Loves Sunbeams now, and has some good little friends in his class. He also loves going to his Parent Preschool class.

Happy Birthday Brody, we love you!!

10 again!

2011-11-02T14:14:00.000-07:00

This really is the easiest way to do a blog, at least for me. Sorry, all the pictures are kind of bad, I kept forgetting my camera, so most of these are just on my phone.

1. Took everyone for flu shots yesterday, both kids were all-stars. Cache barely whimpered, and Brody sat like a statue, and was so excited for his helicopter band-aid, he asked if he could do it again.

2. One of our neighbors had a little Halloween party for the kids, check out these jello worms she made. They looked way too real, neither of my kids would eat them!

3. I don't love Halloween, I think its just kind of a hassle. I think part of this comes from Brody not really caring too much about it. He doesn't love to dress up (although he does a little more now that he is older) and he has never really been a sugar kid. He likes to get treats, but is usually just fine with 1 or 2 and then he's done. I have their candy in a bowl on the counter, and he hardly gets anything out of it. In fact, after our fun little Halloween party at our neighbors, I am pretty sure Brody thought Halloween was over, and I debated whether or not to even take them trick or treating, since he would never know the difference. But I felt too guilty, so we went, and they had fun for about a block and half and then cashed it in. Both kids in bed by 8:00! Cache, my sugar baby, thought he was in heaven and could have went all night.

Brody and Colton, one of his best buddies from Sunbeams.

4. Cache is OBSESSED with Batman lately. He has some Batman pj's from Target that used to be Brody's and they come with a cape that velcros on the back. He wants to wear them every night, and it is a fight to get him out of them and dressed in the morning (unless he is getting dressed into his Batman shirt)! I also have to put time limits on him watching the Batman cartoons that they have, he would watch it all day. I thought Batman things would be some good Christmas presents, but turns out they are almost impossible to find right now.

All the Raymond Beazer cousins before trick or treating. Brody and Ava started out so excited and ran to the first few houses, everyone else had to hurry to keep up! Check out Brody's face.

5. The Rice family keeps getting bigger and bigger! Jackie and Jesse are expecting their 4th in April and Jord and Julie are getting ready to welcome Baby boy Rice in just a couple weeks. Justin and Megan got engaged in October, and even though Megan has already been part of our family for years and years, its exciting to welcome her officially! Megan is a flight attendant for Canada North and was flying up to Yellowknife. Justin decided to take and earlier flight and surprise her in her hotel room. Best part of the story is that he was supposed to be flying stand-by and the plane was full, and didn't look like his plans would work out. The plane was backing out of the terminal and stopped and called in and said they had 1 spot left and he had to run to make it. They stopped the plane, lowered the stairs and he took off running with his back pack across the tarmac. Doesn't that sound like something out of a movie?!

6. I am loving the Sing-Off right now, I am constantly in awe of the talent. Love the groups, love the judges. If you've never seen it, check out this clip from Monday night.
Or you can watch this one too, this group is actually from BYU.

7. I need hints on how to get rid of Cache's soother. He only has it to sleep since about 6 months, and he knows it is not allowed to leave his bed, and that's fine. However, he goes to sleep so, so easy with it, I hate to disrupt that, but I know it needs to be done. I never had to do it with Brody, so any hints? I tried cutting the end of one of them, doesn't bother him at all.


Best picture I could get of the two of them on Halloween, this was at the end of the night, should have taken one at the beginning I guess. Brody's face cracks me up, what a kid.

8. Brody has been saying the funniest things in his prayers lately. The other night for supper, he was thankful that it was almost Christmas time. That was my mistake in telling him in the summer that its not Christmas time until it snows in the winter. After 2 snowfalls already, I'm sure he thinks it is just around the corner. Oops.

9. I am running out of new things to write. Casey had to get glasses. He looks very scholarly.

10. It was the Primary presentation on Sunday. Brody has been loving Sunbeams lately (thanks to a fantastic teacher), but he is so shy still, I doubted he would even sit at the front. He memorized his part, sat up at the front with his class, and made it all the way to the microphone before he got stage fright. Oh well, next year right? Given how he was at the beginning of the year, I consider it a small miracle that he was even up there. This is what his line was, that he practiced and practiced. Don't mind the pj's.

10 on Thursday-All about Cache!

2011-10-13T14:17:00.000-07:00

Cache turned 2 last weekend, and I can hardly believe it. Crazy to think that Cache is now the same age Brody was when we brought him home from the hospital. Wasn't that just yesterday?

1. Cache is positive that his name is Cache-man. Next time you see him, ask him what his name is and he'll let you know.

2. He is talking like crazy, I think he even talks better than some 3 year olds. It's so different, since Brody didn't really talk until after he turned 2.

3. Loves anything baby, especially his new baby cousin Piper and our baby kittens (who incidentally gave both boys ringworm--awesome). He talks to them in the cutest, highest, funniest little voice.

4. Still is a super picky eater, but has gotten better in the last 6 months. Still won't eat any meat, other than McDonald's cheeseburgers (if you can call it meat) and the occasional pepperoni. Luckily he likes most fruits and veggies, so he still stays pretty healthy. He still has quite the sweet tooth and loves ALL things sugar!

5. Still has such a sweet little personality and for the most part is pretty easily pacified, but can have quite the tantrum if things don't go just right.

6. Loves to play with anything boy-trains, tractors, cars, Superman, Batman, but he has been known to wrap up his Woody doll in a blanket and carry it around like a baby.

7. Idolizes his big brother and they are the best of friends. But, he also can tease and push Brody's buttons like only a little brother can.

8. Still is quite small (like 10th percentile small) but finally has grown enough to move into 2T shirts.

9. Is an awesome sleeper and napper, still naps 2-3 hours a day and sleeps about 12 hours at night.

10. We love our baby boy and feel so blessed to have him as part of our little family!

Number 10

2011-09-13T13:10:00.000-07:00

So here's the number 10 I couldn't think of before. Good thing he's so cute.

check, check......Is this thing on?

2011-09-09T14:34:00.000-07:00

Is anyone reading/writing blogs anymore with the abundance of beautiful weather right now?

Here's my 10 on Tuesday....or Friday.

1. The other day we were in Costco with insane line ups and Casey was wearing an Indianapolis Colts hoodie. This worker came up and started chatting with him about the team, turns out he was a die-hard fan. After he talked with him for a bit, he decided to open up an extra till to save us the wait. How great is that. Now if I just find out what sort of paraphernalia to wear to Superstore to make them open more than 2 of their check-outs.

2. I will be so sad when summer leaves and takes my suntan with it. The extra 10 lbs look a lot better with a suntan on it.


We've spent alot of time here this summer.

3. Brody doesn't really nap anymore, except on the most random days. I know lots of kids have stopped napping way before now, but it was still a very sad moment for me. He doesn't know what to do with himself in the afternoon, when his best buddy is napping and he isn't!

4. I've read so much this summer, its been great. I read The Help and saw the movie all in the same week, loved both of them. I'm always on the lookout for a good book, so recommend some of your favorites!

5. We finally entered the world of modern technology and bought an iphone. I'm still so dumb with it, but its so much better than our old crappy phone that died every time we used it.

6. Cache is so in love with the baby kittens that our outside. He carts them around everywhere and talks to them in the highest, cutest little voice,"Hello baby kittens, its ok, its ok. Want your mom? See mom, I be gentle (after telling him he can't hold them by the necks)" We've had to talk to him a few times and explain that kittens don't like baths in mud puddles. Or sprayed with the hose. Or held upside down.

7. Its been so hot (not that I'm complaining), I'm running out of meal ideas that don't involve turning on the oven. We've had lots of sandwiches.

8. I'm so sad we didn't get to have a garden this year. We've never had one and we were moving trees and clearing a spot in our yard to plant one, but it was flooded before we could plant. Everyone is reaping the rewards of their garden and I'm jealous. Next year though.

9. I can't think of anymore, have a great weekend! We'll be picking raspberries, yum!

Summer

2011-08-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

Summer has just been too much fun for us--not much more to say other than that! Here's some pictures of our fun August. I am really, really sad that I can already see some yellow leaves on my trees, didn't summer just start?

Some fun in Waterton. We did a lot of swimming this summer, so the boys are always in the swimsuits. Just makes it look like we took all the pictures on the same day!

Ben and Lindsay's new boat. Brody was a fan, Cache was definitely not.

A day at the zoo with the cousins. Do you think Brody's excited?

Casey's sister was up from Utah with her family, who we haven't seen for a few years, and Brody and Cache got to meet some new cousins.

Fun with cousins (I think there is even a few 2nd cousins in there) at the Campbell farm.

I had no idea a lake with an actual sandy beach existed in Southern Alberta, we've been back 3 weekends in a row. The kids love to dig in the sand, and I think its way better than the pool, I don't have to worry about the jumping in over their head.

Proof that I was actually at some of these outings!

Casey and Sophia got dumped about 5 min after this picture. That'll teach her to listen to Uncle Casey when he says "No hands!"

Some new baby kittens at our house. I promise this picture isn't posed. I love it because it shows that they really are best friends. Love my 2 boys.

Oh, a camping we will go!

2011-07-31T21:57:00.000-07:00

So Casey's brother Mitch and his family moved to Australia in January for 3 years (I am more than a little jealous of that!) But, they did leave behind their trailer, so we thought we'd take advantage this long weekend and take the boys on their first camping trip. We went down to Beazer (to those reading this not from Southern Alberta, yes that is a real place). There is a family campground right on the creek and we were the only ones there WHOLE weekend. It was so great, and the boys had so much fun. I wasn't sure how they (especially Cache, first time not in a crib or playpen) would sleep in the bunk bends in the trailer, but they both slept so well, no interruptions from them at all. Now, if we just could have kept the dog from snoring....

Anyway, a few pictures of our fun little family camping trip. I promise I was there, even if there is no evidence of it. And don't mind Cache's face, he did a face plant on the cement a couple days before we left. Don't worry, it will go well with goose egg he gave himself on the bed frame when we got home.


Cache thought he was hilarious playing hide and seek in the bushes.

Getting way too grown up and handsome. Hard to believe he will 4 in just a few months (I try not to think about it, because he turns 4 in the winter time...ugghh)

We spent a lot of time just throwing rocks in the creek.

Tried 3 times to jump off here, but just couldn't make himself do it.

Decided to jump off the little hill instead! Maybe he'll be brave enough next year.

A perfect end to a perfect weekend.

Family pics

2011-07-20T14:03:00.000-07:00

Kaylee will think I'm a big nerd for posting these already, but I just love them and think they are so cute. The boys were so crazy, so I didn't know if she would be able to get some good ones. Thank you Kaylee!

Cache is THRILLED to be doing pictures.

Typical Brody!

My little heartbreaker.

Fun fun fun!

2011-07-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

Where to start, we've had so much fun the last few weeks! We've played at the park, spent a few days at the pool, had picnics in Waterton, even spent a day out at Casey's uncles farm with quad rides and fireworks, and just spent lots of time outside. We love summer.

July 1st was lots of fun like always, the boys have more fun each year the older they get. Not being from Raymond, it always baffles me every year to see the amount of people that come out to everything, I swear its bigger than Christmas here!

Making Canada Day cookies

Brody's excited for the parade, can you tell?

Happy July 1st!

I have this exact picture 3 years in a row, Brody prefers the parade from the comfort of the truck.

Cache on the other hand was true to form and all about the candy!


Wagon rides.

We also went up to Spruce Grove for a few days for a little visit, and it rained the WHOLE time we were there! So, we didn't get to do as much as we would have liked, but still got in a good visit. My aunt was there from Utah, who we haven't seen a few years. She has never met Cache, and I 've never met her little Jane. I didn't take any pictures (not much to take of in the rain!), but we still had fun with everyone. Brody always misses his cousins when we leave, good thing they are coming for a visit next week--hopefully our weather cooperates more than theirs did. Speaking of cousins, Brody and Cache are getting a new little boy cousin in November, congrats Jord and Julie!

Casey couldn't come with us this time, so we were happy to see him when we got home. I came home to a spotless house with shampooed carpets! Best husband ever.

These two are good friends now, didn't think it would ever happen!

One of the main reasons we went up to Spruce when we did was for a little girls night out with 2 of my favorite girls. What did we do, you ask?

What better way to spend a Tuesday night than at NKOTBSB! We had such a fun night! It was as cheesy as it should have been (so what if I cheered when Donny ripped his shirt in half)-they played only their old songs, same dance moves and everything (but with better hair). The crowd was mostly made up of 30-something girls (way more guys than I thought would be there, honestly, who drags their husband to a boy band concert?). We must have missed the memo on dressing in the 80's gear though.

We like to think we're still 21.

2 of my favorite girls!

9 kids between the 3 of us, can you believe it (I sure can't).

Mr. Schuster himself opened the show.

Nosebleeds!

We had a fun couple weeks, tomorrow Wicked in Calgary!

And, just couple videos of our fun night to end it off!

Hello summer? Its me, Jaime

2011-06-23T21:54:00.000-07:00

-So, so happy that summer has finally decided to join us-I won't even complain about the mosquitos. And just in case you're wondering(if you see them), no my kids do not have chicken pox.

Just in case you wondered if he is still the worlds messiest eater...he is.

Loving ice cream weather!!

-One of the best things about summer is telling your kids its time to go, and all they have to do is put on shoes.

-I DID IT!! I finished 9 weeks of pure agony, also known as Insanity. Unfortunately didn't lose 20 lbs (ok, maybe 10) like I wanted, but lost a few inches and all my clothes fit a million times better. Taking this week off, and might be crazy enough to start it again.
-was feeling brave and took both kids swimming at the pool by myself. No one drowned, and pretty sure they had fun. Cache is just as crazy as Brody in the water.

-Cache has decided that he is terrified of cows. If we go outside to play and he can hear them, he starts crying and won't move off my lap. So strange. However, we took them to ride Grandpa Beazer's horses, and he was in love with it, rode all by himself (well, with someone leading the horse) and didn't want to get off.

They were much happier than their faces look.

-we have 4 baby kittens right now. The boys just love to sit and watch them, especially Cache.
-just found out that Matthew Morrison (aka Mr. Schuester) is opening for the NKOTBSB concert!
-had to replace the whole rear-end of our truck. Ouch. At least it didn't happen on our way up to Spruce Grove in a couple weeks.
-In case you missed it on facebook, Brody prefers to only pray on Wednesdays.

Brody wanted a picture of them eating a banana. Must have been a good one.

-I haven't made supper all week, other than chicken salad croissants, which doesn't really count since I bought the chicken already roasted at Superstore. We've only eaten out once, which means we've been eating alot of sandwiches. And we have a ward party tomorrow, so no cooking again. But really, who wants to cook when the nice weather finally showed up?

10 on Tuesday again!

2011-06-07T22:17:00.000-07:00

1. We were able to get away last weekend for Casey's birthday to Great Falls with no kids! My mom and Dennis were kind enough to come down to watch our kids for the weekend. It was great to do all the shopping without the kids in tow (although, without them getting impatient, we (I) got to spend way too long in stores and spent way too much money!) Thanks momma!

2. No matter how long you've lived here, you cannot even begin to convince me that Southern Alberta ever used to have trouble with droughts. I really think its sending me into a depression.

3. That being said, we thought that today being another awful rainy day, it would be a good chance to take the kids to a movie. Oh wait, Lethbridge doesn't do matinee's during the week. Really?!

4. Finally started making my own bread. I don't know why we ever bought bread for so long, homemade tastes so much better (especially now that I've figured out how not to turn it into bricks).

5. The other day we saw a couple with a brand new baby, trying to get it into a Baby Bjorn. I told Casey that seeing little newborns like that makes me want another. His response, "Oh, when I see them I'm just glad they aren't mine!" I guess we aren't really on the same page yet.

6. My kids are saying the funniest things lately. Today during bath time Cache looks at me very seriously and says,"No poop in tub" (He may have heard this before since it has happened the last 2 baths!)

7. Brody is convinced that polka-dots are called polka-nuts.

8. Took full advantage of the one nice weekend and hit up Waterton. Kind of a funny picture of everyone, but the best we could get, the kids weren't crazy about the cold, cold mist.

9. Notice Cache's hat-he will only wear it sideways.

10. I can't really think of anything else, so here's a picture of the kids and their cousins we babysat last week (can only see the top of Brenna's head). Nothing like giving babies glue and scissors to keep them busy, right?

Joining the fun

2011-05-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

I'm joining in on the "10 on Tuesday" fun! It might only be for this week, but it seems like such a fun way to get a bunch of random thoughts all into one post.

1. I am pretty sure there are more places in the province that need this insane rain more than us. Not that I'm complaining, I like sleeping with buckets in my room to catch the drips.

2. Fingers crossed for Scotty tonight on American Idol (and Hannah from Biggest Loser and Hines Ward from DWTS.....oh and did I mention the Glee finale too?)

3. Been working out for 5 1/2 weeks, all I've lost is 1 inch off my waist....not sure its worth the pain.

4. Tip for moms with sick kids! I was reading last week that chocolate is supposed to help with a persistent cough. Brody had been waking up coughing in the morning a couple days in a row, and would just sit on the couch and cough for at least 1/2 hour before he could function (wasn't a bad cough, just nagging). Anyway, the other day when he started coughing when he got up, Casey gave him a little bowl of chocolate chips and he stopped right away. We've tried it a couple other times, and works every time--works way better than cough syrup and tastes better too.

5. Casey heard this cute story on the radio and I had to look it up and share it. You always hear stories of athletes DUI's, assault charges, cheating scandals, etc, etc. Nice to hear about someone doing good.

6. Was going to plant a garden for the first time this year. Casey cleared out some wild trees in the backyard to make some room. Right now its a giant muddy hole, because the ground is too soft to get a truck in there to pour dirt. The way the rain is going, might have to have my first garden next year.

7. Did I mention in July I am going to New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys (come on you're jealous, right?), and then Wicked in the SAME week?

8. Got a new haircut (a REAL haircut, not just a trim). I have no pictures, so if you want to see it, we'll have to hang out.

9. Been feeling a little homesick for my family lately.

10. Did you really read all of this even though I had no new pictures to post?

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

Brody's teacher in Sunbeams did a little questionnaire with them on Mother's Day that I thought was so cute.
My Mom according to Brody

My Mom's name is: Mom
My Mom likes to: make cookies
My Mom has brown eyes (they're actually blue)
My Mom's birthday is on: on Dad's birthday
My Mom was born in: Raymond (Edmonton, but close enough)
My Mom's favorite food is: sandwiches and milk
My mom likes to help me: get a glass of milk
My Mom is best at: cooking

Isn't that so cute? Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day and you are enjoying the nice summer like weather, I know we are!

Nothing like a few tulips to make it really feel like spring, these are all in our front yard!

Easter

2011-05-06T13:47:00.000-07:00

Is it too late for an Easter post? My kids had a great time this Easter, Brody was definitely more into it this year than last. We went to the town Easter Egg hunt, which was way more successful than last year. Last year was freezing cold with hurricane winds, and this year Brody didn't even wear his jacket. They also had it divided into age groups this year, so the little kids had way more fun. Cache just mostly watched all the crazy kids running around him. He did snag a few chocolates and kept a death grip on his bucket.

A few pictures of Easter morning (you'll have to excuse the dark and blurriness of them, my camera is dying a slow painful death). Brody loved all the little chocolate eggs that the Easter Bunny left for him to find. The Easter Bunny decided to go easy on the treats this year, and got a few little toys for each of the boys instead. Best decision ever.

Checking out the goods. Kinda funny story, Casey had to work that morning, so he got up at 5:00 to go to work, came home at 7:30 to see the boys find their stuff, and then went back to work. This would have been the perfect plan, but Brody decided to wake up at 6:10. I had to try and keep him in my room until 7:30-easily handled once I got him a big bowl of chocolate chips and we watched the Lion King. Probably not my best parenting moment, but it worked and the surprise wasn't ruined.

Hunting eggs.


My little garbage belly with a mouthful of chocolate.

We had Brody signed up for a 4 day soccer camp here in Raymond. I didn't even get any pictures because the first two days, he sat beside me the whole time on the bleachers. Did not even attempt to be part of the class. Good thing it was only $20. He ended up getting the flu the 3rd day, so we didn't even bother going back. The good thing is now I know that swimming lessons will be a waste of money and we will wait until next year. I figure anything they can teach him at 3, they can teach him at 4, right?
Speaking of being 3, will someone please tell him that a 3 year old cannot already be outgrowing his 4T clothes. And while you're at it, please tell his 19 month old brother it is ok to outgrow the 12 month clothes....

There is a serious baby boom in Raymond again this year and I just wanted to say a big congratulations to everyone who is expecting! (Oh, and just in case you were wondering, not us, we're gonna sit this round out).
Everyone have a Happy Mother's Day this weekend!

All About Me ABC's

2011-04-16T22:19:00.000-07:00

I can't think about what is going on outside or I might cry. So here's a little something I saw on friends blog.

Age: 31

Bed Size: King, can never, ever go back to a Queen now. Who wants to actually touch while they sleep?

Chore You Hate: Bathrooms or folding laundrey

Dogs: Hank-chocolate lab, 2.5 years, over 100 lbs!

Essential Start of Your Day: Bathroom, isn't everyone's?

Favorite Color: yellow and pink

Gold or Silver: silver

Height: 5'7.5

Instruments You Play: I play a pretty mean right hand on the piano, plus the trumpet from my jr. high days.

Job Title: Stay at home mom

Kids: Brody 3 1/2, Cache 18 months

Live: Raymond

Mom's Name: Brenda

Nicknames: My aunt, Pam, has called me Hamster Brain since as long as I can remember. Charming, isn't it? I have no idea how it started, but I'll always answer to it.

Overnight Hospital Stays: 1 tonsillectomy when I was a kid, and then 2 kids

Pet Peeve: People who don't give a courtesy wave when you let them in in traffic, people that snap their gum.

Quote From a Movie: "I died that day, and you can die too for all I care....Aaaassss yyyyoooouuu wwwwiiiisssshhhh....Oh my sweet Wesley, what have done?!" "There is a shortage of perfect breasts in this world, it would be a pity to damage yours"
If you don't know these, we can't be friends anymore.

Right- or Left-Handed: right handed

Siblings: 1 sister, 2 brothers--all younger

Time You Wake Up: around 8:00--Lucky for me Casey is an early bird and is up when Brody gets up around 7:00. I usually don't come to life until Cache wakes up, around 8:00.

Underwear: I don't think my snazzy undies would really shock anyone.

Veggie You Dislike: Ew, mushrooms

What Makes You Run Late: Winter-I always misjudge the time it takes to get everyone packed into their winter coats, mitts, boots etc. I thought it was done for the year...

X-Rays You Have Had: I'm sure I've had some, but I can't remember. I've never broken anything.

Yummy Food You Make: Depends who you ask, if it was Cache, I'm sure he'd say nothing:) I can make a pretty good chocolate chip cookie or red velvet cupcake. Sweet and sour chicken and coconut rice is also a family favorite.

Zoo Animal You Like Best: Tigers, monkeys, hippos

And no blog is complete without a couple pictures. I hadn't really decided if we were going to do Easter eggs this year, then we were Skyping my mom this morning and she was doing eggs with Jackie's kids and Brody thought it looked like lots of fun, so we gave it a whirl.

After awhile Cache got tired of using the spoon and just used his hands.

The masterpieces. I am pretty sure every one of them was put in every single colour multiple times (hence the lovely brownish colour) and dropped even more times than that. Aren't they something?

What the what?

2011-04-12T14:27:00.000-07:00

Has it really been a month since I posted? Our life must be super exciting and really busy, I just haven't had time! Yeah right, I wish that was the case. The last month and a half I've experienced a cold, which turned into a sinus infection, which turned into bronchitis, PLUS throw in a round of stomach flu for the whole family. Oh, and did I forget to mention the very random and very painful pulled back muscle I woke up with one morning (wish I could say it was from all the exercising I was doing, but I'm not and it wasn't). So, our last month hasn't been super awesome, BUT on a happier note, I think spring is here! The boys have been loving playing outside, and I love looking outside and seeing no snow (I'll just pretend I don't notice the 80km winds that seem to accompany the nice days). I can even see the tulips and some green grass making an appearance.


Brody loves to help me bake, and Cache just plays in the sink and waits to lick the beaters.

One of the not so nice days of spring.

We did manage to make a trip up to Spruce Grove, just me and the boys. They are seriously the best travelers ever, I don't ever worry about making the trip by myself. We had so much fun there, it went by so fast. I even managed to sneak off for a night to do shopping and dinner with my old roommate Sarah and my sister. Happy Birthday to Jackie, who turned 30 while we were there!

The only pictures I took the whole time in Edmonton. I miss Red Robin's.

Sunday was also a big day for us, Cache is 18 months and officially in nursery. I'd be lying if I said he loved it, but after a rough start he did stay the last hour by himself and when I went to get him at the end he had fallen asleep on one of the leaders.
At 18 months Cache:
-has so many words, I can't even list them all. He is starting to put two words together and tries to copy everything Brody says. A new favorite is "Outside, me?"
-speaking of Brody-he loves, loves, loves him. He copies everything he does, and they play so well (usually).
-favorite movie is still Despicable Me
-worst eater ever (seriously, what kid won't eat bread?). Out of the few things he does eat, some favorites are oranges, avocado, noodles, yogurt, anything with sugar.
-shortest legs ever-still in 12 month pants!
-loves our dog, if he has a little snack to eat, lots of the time he will go and sit in between Hanks front legs and eat it.
-has to sleep with his "baby"every night. He has about 4 stuffed animals and he picks one to sleep with every night. Still a great sleeper.
-still waiting on 3 more eye teeth to pop up before he is done, but other than a runny nose, they don't seem to be bothering him a ton.
- has the best and cheesiest little grin
-LOVES to dance
-can throw a mean tantrum if he doesn't get his way, but is usually pretty easy to pacify.
He is hilarious and we have so much just watching him, we just love him!

10 things

2011-03-08T13:28:00.000-08:00

I am sure everyone else is in the same boat, but I have a severe case of the winter blues. Thought this might be something fun to do, join in if you like. I was just going to do a list of complaints, but thought I should stretch my mind and try to find some good things in this never ending winter. (Oh and just so you know, I thought I was totally original, until I was blog-stalking people and saw a few other people had already done this. I thought I was so creative).

10 things I love right now

1. I still love watching Glee-so far I haven't found the will power to stay away.
2. Brody tells me everyday either "Mom, you're my best bud" or "You're my best friend", followed by a hug.
3. Taking the kids swimming on the weekend.
4. Herbal tea. Ok, so I don't love it, but I started drinking it in the evening to try keep my hands busy and curb my unhealthy snacking in the evening. And it mostly works-now I just need to find a Mini-Egg flavored one.
5. Watching the kids play together, they entertain each other so well (mostly).
6. My Kindle.
7. That Brody still naps almost everyday, conveniently the same time as Cache.
8. The new show "Who Do You Think You Are". Casey thinks its so boring, but I think its kinda interesting. Betcha didn't know that Tim McGraw's ancestors came over on the same boat as Elvis Presley's.
9. Cache's talking-he has new words all the time. He is starting to put a couple words together every now and then, but usually the two words sentences start with No.
10. That Casey finally shaved his sick mustache.

10 things I am so done with

1. Charlie Sheen-will anyone really be surprised when he ends up overdosed in a hotel room?
2. Gas prices
3. Pushing a fully loaded shopping cart through a snowy parking lot
4. Tom Brady's new ponytail (yep, its true).
5. Winter coats
6. Tantrums
7. Finding things to do inside. I know the kids are now watching way too many movies, but I just am done with thinking of things to do. Come on spring!
8. Runny noses and sore throats
9. Flooded basements.
10. My cute, new green sweater that dyed my arms green.

My camera is having issues, but here are some pictures from last year. Will we ever see the sun again?

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T09:08:00.000-08:00

Just because

2011-02-08T21:57:00.000-08:00

Just a post cause Brody has said some funny things lately and I want to write them down so I don't forget them. These were both with Casey.

Casey was getting Brody ready for bed the other night and Brody chatted non-stop the whole time, even while Casey took him all the way downstairs and into his room. He went in his bed and Casey told him it was time to go to sleep and he said,"Just one more minute of talking, ok Dad?"

Tonight they were getting ready for bed again and Brody said he needed to "Go brush his teeth cause he knocked out a filling." I have no idea where that came from, he's never been to the dentist and I don't know how he even knows what a filling is.


Bedtime stories.

Random

2011-02-02T14:07:00.000-08:00

I am officially sick of winter and so ready for spring, better yet summer, to come. Seems like we've been couped up for far too long, partly because of the horrid cold weather, and partly because I seem to lack the ambition to pack up my kids in all their winter gear and head out into the frosty weather. Just easier to stay home sometimes. Casey's brother and family just moved to Australia for 3 years, and I wish we were with them!
A few random things that have been going on lately. Brody is doing much better in Sunbeams. He still isn't going completely by himself, I'll still go to Sharing Time with him, but he sits with his class and I sit at the back. With a few bribes, he has also been going to his class all by himself. Thank you everyone for your great suggestions!

He has been so great lately with Cache. They are just becoming the best of friends and I love it. Cache follows Brody around constantly and always has to copy him, and for the most part Brody is so patient (who would have thought). Cache has been a bit miserable the last few days, I am sure he is getting his eye teeth. Anyway, just a cute little story that happened this morning. I was trying to make something and Cache was crying and holding onto to my legs while I tried to finish. I was getting impatient, and said, "Cache, stop crying for just a minute!" Brody came over and said,"Cache, come on. I will get you a drink and let's go read a story." And just like that he stopped crying, and they went and looked at books until I was done.


Brody found that hat a couple days ago and has to wear everyday, along with his "work clothes" and "work shoes" cause they "make him look cute".

Just in case you were wondering what I was making (and I'm sure you were), it was this...

A butterhorn recipe I got from my friend Sarah. So delicious and much too dangerous to make more than once every 6 months!

We've ventured out of the house a few times to keep from going too crazy. We've had fun at Parent Preschool, the library, a birthday party, some playdates and done a few fun things inside too.

If you look close, you can see the marker on Cache's mouth, he thinks they make a good snack.

I should have taken a picture just 5 min later, it turned into a disaster.

What post is complete without the world's messiest eater?

So that's what we've been up to lately. Oh and just in case you were wondering, I'm going to see them in July. Come on, who's jealous?

Sunbeams, help?!

2011-01-06T23:12:00.000-08:00

I cannot even believe that Brody is old enough now for Sunbeams. Our first Sunday went exactly how I thought it would. Brody would NOT let me leave his side, and when his teacher offered to just take him, kicking and screaming and all, he got away from her and ran after me out the door, in hysterics. After I finally got him calmed down, we went to his class where he participated and had fun, but I couldn't leave without a serious meltdown again.

Now, we have just barely gotten him to stay in nursery for about a month before we had to switch. I would just tell him that, "Mom will stay for a little bit and when you're having fun I'll leave", and after about 20 min I could sneak out and he was completely fine. There isn't really an opportunity to do that in Primary. He is so clingy and shy anyway, I just don't know the best way to leave. He isn't a kid that will just cry for a bit, and then get distracted or let you hold him (which Cache does, much easier to leave him). He gets super-stressed and the longer you are gone the worse off and meaner he gets. The Primary President called me today and said that the Sunbeam teacher expressed some concern about having parents in the class (which I totally get, there were 3 of us there--I'm sure its more than a little intimidating to teach with so many adults in there).

It is stressing me out to the point of tears tonight (which I NEVER do-Casey thought I'd lost my mind), so I am looking for any and all advice from anyone whose been there, done that. Even if I don't know you, and you've happened to read this!
He is such a sweet boy, but so shy (and that shyness not manifested in him being quiet and withdrawn, it always comes out as some form of crying or tantrum), that no one ever really gets to see his fun, silly side. I'm open to any suggestion that anyone has that might help our Sundays be much more enjoyable and much less stressful.

Christmas

2010-12-30T14:21:00.000-08:00

We headed up to Spruce Grove for Christmas this year. The day before we left I took Cache to the doctor for a cough he had had for a few days. Turns out his chest was all free and clear, but had a double ear infection....perfect. Then, poor Brody got a wicked cold while we were there, Christmas Day being his worst, he didn't even want to come downstairs and open his presents in the morning (he did change his mind about that one though:) Despite having sick kids, we still had a great, although busy and quick, trip up there. The boys were still pretty happy for how sick they were, and it was great to have Casey all to ourselves for a few days.

We started off the trip with some swimming with the Flexhaug's, which I took zero pictures. Then headed to the church for the live nativity. We hadn't been in a few years, and I had forgotten how much I loved the tradition of it, a great way to show the kids the real meaning of Christmas.

Christmas Eve day we spent at the Flexhaug's and let the kids play (which they had fun, minus one unfortunate incident involving poop--that's all I'll say about that). Then that evening we had all my siblings and spouses over at my moms for some present opening, way too much eating, and some games after the kids went to bed.

My two sick boys, Merry Christmas Eve!

Matching Christmas Eve shirts, best picture we could get. They are happier than they look, I promise. My favorite part is Cade holding Ally up by the shirt:) Not sure how much longer they will let us dress them up.


A little cookie decorating with Megan. Brody was all about the decorating, Cache was all about eating the icing....as usual.

Typical Cache. World's messiest eater.

Opening the first of many, many presents.


Playing with some of the loot.

Christmas Eve pj's, than off to bed for these two.

I am sad that I didn't get any pictures of the adults later that night, which involved lots more food, laughing, games, furniture defacing, you know, the usual. Christmas morning was lots of fun, once the boys woke up a little and got into it.

New jersey #1.....


New jersey #2...he kept alternating between them all day.

We decided this year that the kids would get 1 gift from each other, 1 from mom and dad, and 1 from Santa, plus stockings. It was more than enough, and I am so happy we didn't go overboard. They got so spoiled from everyone, our house is overflowing.

We had turkey dinner with my moms family that evening, and then a Boxing Day brunch at Justin's with my dad, where the boys got even more spoiled (so mad at myself again for not bringing out the camera!) Thank you Cowboy Grandpa and cousin Kelsay for all the presents!

Everything went by so fast, and we headed home Boxing Day afternoon (and came back to even more presents from Grandma and Grandpa Beazer--sheesh, talk about spoiled kids!). A big thanks to my mom too for everything those few days while we were staying there!

That was our Christmas in a nutshell. Everyone is feeling better now, and we are back to reality. Maybe one day I'll actually finish the 15 day challenge....or maybe not, we'll see.

Happy New Year!

Day 11-Fav. TV shows.

2010-12-09T21:15:00.000-08:00

Super easy--I have way too many TV shows to watch. Some favorites are:
Chuck-which I swear Casey and I are the only people in the world that watch
Glee-although I gotta admit I was disappointed in the Christmas episode.
Criminal Minds-creeps me out every single week, yet I can't look away.
Greys and Private Practice
Big Bang Theory

And a couple pics to get you in the Christmas spirit....

Day 8,9, and 10

2010-12-07T13:33:00.000-08:00

I thought doing this little challenge would be fun, and it kinda is. But, it is way more fun to read everyone else's than think up your own. I'm bored of it, so I'm gonna hurry this along and do 3 days at a time.

Day 8-Places you've traveled

I wish this list was much longer than it is, but here are the few and far between places I've been.

Other than the regular non-exciting BC and Saskatchewan, the only other place I've been in Canada is the Yukon. I participated in a school exchange program thing when I was in Grade 10 where a girl from Whitehorse came to our house for about 10 days, and then I went up there later that year. It was in the summer, so I didn't get to experience the Arctic in the winter. I would never want to live there, but I will admit that Whitehorse and surrounding area was beautiful. While I was there, we did take a drive over the border to Alaska for a day, so I can also check that off my places I've been list. Wish I had pictures of it, but if I do, I have no idea where they are.

Other places I've been, the usual Montana, Idaho, Utah, Vegas. The most exciting trip I've taken was to Hawaii with Jill, which I loved, and am dying to go back with my family someday. I know its sideways, but I don't know how to change it.

Day 9-Put ipod on shuffle and name 10 songs.

I'll be honest, we have an ipod, but never, ever use it. I think I maybe have 10 songs total on it. I mostly just listen to the radio when I'm driving and when I get ready in the morning, and a few CD's here or there and that's about it.

But, because I didn't want to post nothing, this is Brody's most favorite song this year. We have a Christmas CD in the truck and whenever we go somewhere, we listen to this song on repeat. No joking, as soon as its over he just say's, "Again, again!". We've heard it so much, that one of Cache's new words is Mambo.

Day 10-Something you are afraid of.

2 major things:

Heights-I can't even stand to go up on a ladder, I get too nervous. In glass elevator, I face the door. Looking out a window in a tall building makes my stomach flutter and my knees go weak.

Mice-I can't even post a picture, I get to grossed out. We have way, way too many farm cats outside, but I wouldn't do anything to change it. Haven't seen a mouse since we first moved here 2 years ago. I'd like to keep it that way, so these cats can stick around as long as they'd like.

And just to liven things up, a couple pictures.

The night we decorated the tree, the boys each got a new decoration to open. Don't mind the dinner still on Cache's face.

Hanging the new decorations.

After our walk today.

Cache thoroughly enjoyed his walk, can you tell?

Day 6 and 7

2010-12-03T13:27:00.000-08:00

Day 6-A song that makes you cry and why

Truth be told, I'm not really a crier, and I don't think I've ever cried at a song. But here's a couple that I haven't cried or got a emotional at, but just like them. If you're aren't a country fan, this isn't for you, but here's a song that I never get tired of.

And my all time favorite Christmas song, here. I love it no matter who sings it, but I think her's is my favorite.

Day 7-Favorite Movies

Again, I don't really have a list, I'm pretty easy to please, especially with chick flicks that end exactly how they are supposed too. Of course there is the obvious Harry Potter and Twilight, but here are some others I enjoy. I don't know if these are my favorite, but just some that if I happen to flip by them on the TV I'd probably stop and watch the whole thing. I'm also a sucker for any of those teeny bopper movies, you know, the kinda shows that most people (including me) are embarrassed to say they watch, but still do and secretly love them. I do also like the occasional action movie, like the Bourne series, or the very, very odd comedy-I'm a tough sell when it comes to comedy. Things like Dumb and Dumber just don't do it for me.

I'm just realizing that all the handy movie pictures I uploaded didn't take, so the list I had was Sahara, 27 Dresses, The Blind Side, Hairspray, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.
Hopefully this makes more sense now!

Day 5-things that make you happy

2010-12-01T13:18:00.000-08:00

Day 4-Something you're looking forward to

2010-11-30T12:50:00.000-08:00

With tomorrow being Dec 1 and all, I'd be silly not to say Christmas. I love Christmas-the decorations, the food, the parties, the family, the games, the shopping, the music--I just love everything. I am so excited to go up to Spruce Grove this year and spend Christmas with my family.
Here is a couple pictures of Christmas past...

Here's to another great Christmas season...Merry Christmas everyone!

Day 3-Your siblings and parents.

2010-11-28T14:18:00.000-08:00

I have a great family. I love all of us kids are all so close in age (only 6 years between me and my youngest brother), and that we all can have so much fun together. I was raised by fantastic parents, and credit them for everything that is good in me. My sister is my best friend, and I love that we both have kids so close in age. My brothers are crazy and fun, and I love the girls they picked as my sister-in-laws.
I get homesick for my family all the time, and writing more details would just make me homesick again. So here's a little photo preview instead of my wonderful family.

I don't even know what to give for an explanation for this.

Justin and Megan

The most recent picture of us 4 at Jord's wedding, I was almost 8 months pregnant with Brody, and Jackie was pregnant with Jenna. I guess we need a more recent picture!

Jordan and Julie

Rice Family Fun.

Cowboy Grandpa (that's what Brody calls him)

My beautiful mom

The Flexhaugs-Jackie, Jesse, Cade, Jenna, Ally


Rice Grandkids

And just for fun...

Day 2- Something that stresses you out

2010-11-27T20:08:00.000-08:00

I think everyone has the same generic day to day stresses--money, kids, weight, etc, etc. Right now one of my biggest stresses is Brody's attachment issues. He hates us to leave him anywhere, or with anyone. Last weekend we got a babysitter and I had to actually hold him back with one arm from the baby gate while he was screaming, close it with the other arm, and turn and just leave him. Every mother's dream. Sometimes its just easier to not go anywhere, or just take the kids with us then get a babysitter, which I know only makes things worse, since he won't ever get used to it. But I just feel too bad leaving a screaming child with a babysitter. I feel like it is getting a little better the older he gets, and can only hope that it keeps getting better. He has stayed in nursery 2 weeks in a row and seems to do ok at Parent Preschool. Hopefully its a sign of things to come.
I just need my sister to live next door. Last time we were up there, he actually asked to stay there without me.


Good thing he's cute!

Another stress--winter driving. Used our 4x4 3 times already this week. Yuck.

Ok, I'll do it.

2010-11-25T22:36:00.000-08:00

Everyone else is almost done their own, and it looked like fun so I'll give it a go.
15 day blog challenge:

Day 1-Self portrait picture, and 15 interesting facts
Day 2- Something that stresses you out

Day 3- Your siblings and parents

Day 4- Something you're looking forward to

Day 5- pictures of things that make you happy
Day 6- A song that makes you cry and why
Day 7- Favorite movies

Day 8- A place you've traveled to

Day 9- Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs

Day 10-Something you're afraid of

Day 11-Favorite tv shows

Day 12-What you believe

Day 13-Goals

Day 14-Some pictures you love

Day 15-Pictures of your dream house

Day 1-15 interesting facts and self portrait

1. I hate seeing spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes. I don't care if its your blog, facebook status, emails or what. Spell check is everywhere--take advantage.

2. I am the least flexible person I know, can't even come close to touching my toes.

3. I have never once used or typed the phrase "LOL". Are you really laughing out when you type it?

4. I have an abnormally large space between my big toe and 2nd toe on both feet. Flip flops are a breeze.

5. My celebrity crush is Dwayne Johnson (post "The Rock" era--I never, ever watched wrestling). Go ahead, laugh-everyone else does. I am aware that its weird. I also have a small crush on Peyton Manning, don't know why, he's not even that cute. Casey is fully aware, and doesn't care at all....he has one on him too.

6. I've never had a cavity.

7. Gravy, mushrooms, mustard, and seafood are the 4 things that make me gag and I just can't eat. There is lots of other things I don't like, but I can eat them.

8. I talk to my sister at least 5 or 6 times a week, sometimes more than once a day.

9. One of my biggest pet peeves is letting someone in in traffic, and not getting a courtesy wave. Feels like I just wasted my good deed of the day.

10. I wear contacts and really am very, very blind without them. Like can't see my alarm clock right beside me blind.

11. I tried on my wedding dress a couple weeks ago, just for fun.......it still fit......mostly.

12. I have never, ever seen the Sound of Music. I don't really have a good reason why, just haven't. I keep meaning to, one day.

13. I feel like my house is always in pretty good shape. I am slightly a neat freak (not always, happened after an unfortunate incident when I was in high school that I would rather forget....involved a mouse.....on my bed.....while I was sleeping). Anyway, everything is always in its place before I go to bed, dishes done, toys picked up, laundry folded etc. Everything is pretty organized, and everything has a place.

14. Just a funny little known fact-the little silver hoop earrings that I always wear were actually Casey's at one point. Right before I met him, he pierced BOTH ears, something to do with a bet with Darryl and Brock. Luckily, the bet was over and they were already out when I met him!

15. I can't think of anything better than this, so last one is I've never been on a snowmobile. Don't feel like I'm missing much. Looks too cold.

There you have it, same place, same time, tomorrow?

Oh right, the self-portrait. I don't have many of those, I don't even really have any with my kids since I am always the one taking them So you get this little gem, this is me 11:30 at night.

Happy Birthday Brody!

2010-11-18T14:49:00.000-08:00

Brody turned 3 on Monday! I can't believe he is already that old, time flies way too fast. Since we already had his birthday party at the pool, we just stayed home, made pizza, opened presents and had some cupcakes.

Opening his new Buzz Lightyear.

Birthday cupcakes!

At 3 Brody,

-still naps almost every afternoon and still goes to bed at about 8:30
-LOVES to swim
-can still throw a mean tantrum (more often than I like)
-is a great big brother and plays really well with Cache...most of the time
-is still in the 90th percentile on the growth charts-wears size 4T clothes now.
-asks for macaroni every day for lunch (he usually only gets it once every couple weeks)
-will not eat watermelon, ever
-loves trains
-Toy Story the movie of choice right now
-loves to be outside, rain or shine.
-doesn't really like to color or do crafty things.
-He's a boys boy! He loves to ride on quads, motorbikes, tractors, loaders, etc
-is turning into quite the chatterbox and repeats EVERYTHING.
-hates to be left at nursery, with babysitters, parent preschool...you name it. We're working on it.
-loves to go visit his grandparents and cousins, on both sides!
-he's a great traveler, driving with him is so easy.
-loves, loves, loves to sing. If you can ever get him to do it, he has a particularly amusing version of "This Old Man"
-is quite shy, sometimes this is manifested in him snapping and yelling at you instead of just saying hi back. We're working on it.
-has to get dressed first thing as soon as he wakes up and it ALWAYS has to be jeans--nothing else.

He gives us our challenges, but he also cracks us up every day with the things he says or does. We love him and wouldn't trade him for anything (most days!).
Happy Birthday Brody!!

Just a funny story about Brody and nursery. We have been struggling since he was old enough to go to get him to go by himself. Finally we asked him what he wanted so he would stay by himself. He wanted pizza, not homemade, he specifically said he wanted it from the store. Promises were made and what do you know, he stayed by himself the whole time! So, even though it was Sunday, he got his store bought pizza for lunch. What a kid! (even though there was no pizza, he did stay the next week too, maybe we're on to something...)

On another not as exciting note, Casey and I also celebrated our 6 year anniversary. No pictures, but we did get a chance to go out for dinner. Happy anniversary to us!

And no post is complete without my sweet baby Cache, who has had the stomach flu-so sad.
I swear I have about 50 pictures just like this. He sure does love his sweets!

I've seen a 15 day blog challenge floating around. Maybe I'll do it next time...

Giveaway!

2010-11-06T20:44:00.001-07:00

I have never entered a giveaway contest before, but this one is too good to pass up!!
Check out www.mandybakerblog.com for an amazing giveaway. She did our family pictures in the spring, and we loved them, thanks Mandy for putting up with our crazy boys!!

Oh where to start?

2010-10-31T14:45:00.000-07:00

We've been busy and I feel overwhelmed at trying to post it all, but this is sort of our family journal so here it goes. Feel free to just scroll and look at pictures, cause I am pretty sure the only one that reads it all is my mom:)

We started off by going up to Spruce Grove, just me and the boys. We went swimming, which I didn't take any pictures. Brody as always loved it, even went down the big slide by himself, and later got in trouble from the life guard for jumping in where he couldn't touch-that boy has no fear. My mom had a little birthday party for the boys, since my family couldn't make it down for the big party. They got spoiled, as always. I am also realizing I didn't take any pictures of the family we went up to see.

The yummy treats my mom made instead of cake.

We went went to the mall for a little shopping, and then Jackie took the two babies home and I stayed with the older kids to do a few rides. They were all so good, I wish we would have had time to more rides with them. My only mishap was trying to take two 2 year olds to the bathroom, I won't go into details, but apologies to the Galaxyland cleaning staff.

Now, the reason I went up to Edmonton in the first place! Living in Raymond, I always feel like a bit of an outsider, having not grown up there. I am liking it more and more the longer we are here and always appreciate (and have lots of fun at!) an invite to a girls night out. But, the conversation inevitably turns to high school at some point, and I get a little lost. This weekend though, I got together with MY girls from high school. The girls that knew me growing up, the stupid things we did, the funny stories that happened. I didn't realize how much I missed these girls until I saw them again. Everyone is spread out (me in Raymond, one in BC, some still around Edmonton, one even in Australia!) and all grown up, but we picked up right where we left off. Love these girls!

The weekend after we had a joint b-day party for the boys, since this is the only year we could get away with it and they wouldn't care that they were sharing. Their birthdays are about a month apart, so we had it somewhere in the middle. We rented a pool and had our family come, and everyone had a great time! I barely even saw Brody, he stayed in the deep end the whole time with his buddy/cousin Nolan and his dad. We are for sure doing it again next year.

(got a little shy while every one sang happy birthday to him)

Next up, Halloween. First year we carved a pumpkin, Brody was so excited to carve our "Halloween Bumpkin", stuck his hand in once, wrinkled his nose, and said "Umm, I don't like pumpkins" and took off. Not really the fun family activity I had in mind.

My superheros. Brody doesn't care for dressing up, in fact this is the first year he actually kept a costume on for longer than 5 min. He did get the hang of Trick or Treating this year and was excited to go with his cousins, but after about 5 houses he handed his bucket to Casey and said "Here Dad, you do it". He didn't even go crazy eating candy when we got home, just a sucker and he was happy. Sure doesn't get that from me.

This little one though was all about Halloween!! Loved his costume, carried his own bucket the WHOLE way (actually had a white knuckled death grip on it), marched right up to the door with the other kids. Even cried when I tried to skip a few houses with him, and just held him on the sidewalk. He was all about the candy. I swear he can hear a candy wrapper open from across the house and comes running.

Phweesh, that's it for now. I have the cutest videos that won't upload, but I'll put them on whenever I can get it figured out.

Who needs girls?

2010-10-23T13:15:00.000-07:00

All about Cache!

2010-10-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

Guess who turned 1 on the weekend! October 9, 2009--I was 8 days overdue and thankfully the doctor induced me Friday before the long weekend, 3 short (and drug-free again...ugghh) hours later Cache joined our little family. Time has flown by, and we've enjoyed every second of it.

At 1, Cache:
-Has 7 teeth, one of them a molar--which is weird.
-has been walking for over a month
-can say mama, dada, bye-bye, hello, nana (banana), uh-oh
-runs (well, he can't really run yet, but walks really fast--ish) away from me giggling when he knows its time for bed.
-LOVES his big brother and tries to copy everything he does. Loves to have Brody chase him.

-is a midget--20.9 lbs, 28 inches.
-gives high-fives
-is the messiest eater I have ever seen--not exaggerating one bit

-Mr. Independence-has to feed himself. I can give him a bite of something, he will spit it out. If I put it on his tray and just leave it, he will pick it up and eat it himself. The only things I can feed him are yogurt and Mott's fruit cups. Everything else must be done himself. While we are on the subject--picky, picky eater!
-loves to dance
-always stands by the door and gives dad a kiss when its time to go to work
-has the best belly laugh, but only Brody can get it from him
-loves to play trains
-likes to play outside.
-is a great sleeper, has a 2-3 hour afternoon nap, goes to bed at 8 or 8:30 every night, wakes up at 6:00 and has a bottle and usually goes back to sleep for another couple hours.
-L-O-V-E-S junk food. He has a sixth sense of when anyone is eating chocolate, ice cream, licorice, you name it--he smells it in the air and comes running.

We feel so blessed to have this little man in our family, and can't wait for the next year. I am sure he will be just as angelic at 2 as he is at 1.....

We are having a joint b-day party for Cache and Brody in a couple weeks, so for Cache's actual birthday we just opened presents and went out for dinner, just the 4 of us. After dinner we joined the cousins at Grandma and Grandpa Beazer's for cupcakes. I can't take credit for the cupcake idea, I saw them on someones blog and copied. They turned out super cute, and the kids loved them.

Opening presents--with a little help from Brody when it was taking too long.

And just a few random pics of Brody to finish off the post.

A little father/son golfing--someone should tell whoever lives there to rake their leaves.

Looks innocent, doesn't he? Don't let him fool you for a second.

This picture makes me a little sad, for some reason he looks so grown up and its like I am getting a glimpse of the future of him as a teenager.

Date Night (or mid-afternoon)

2010-09-20T21:45:00.000-07:00

Brody and I had a little date this afternoon to Max and Ruby. It was his first show of any kind and I didn't know how he would do. Brody is a little unpredictable when it comes to things like that, he could love it, not care about it, or totally freak out. Luckily, it was the first--he was dancing and clapping and cheering. It was great, a really fun afternoon for just us two.

Waiting for the show to start, we went with one of Brody's good friends, who also just happens to be one of his favorite cousins!

Gotta have the shirt! (Take a good look, because you will never see him wear it in public, this a stay at home shirt only:)

You can't tell by his face, but he really did love it.

The fun little performance.

Leaving the show hand in hand with Miss Ava.

End of the day at home with my handsome, silly date.

I loved having a little one on one time with Brody since it doesn't happen very often, and especially since Cache has come, he definitely a Daddy's boy. It was fun to share the afternoon with just him.

And a couple more random funny pictures, just to finish it off. This was Sunday dinner at the Beazer's and the kids were WIRED! Brody and Ava were putting on a show, I believe this was their rendition of Single Ladies...yep, you read that right.

Ava was putting on a good show, Brody was the back up.

Brody was helping me make Banana Bread one day and had a little mishap. Not sure exactly what or how it happened, but he was holding a cup of flour when it did.

And just in case you thought we forgot about him....

He was waiting for Brody to wake up from a nap and thought Hank would make a good substitute. Really is the worlds best dog, just let Cache crawl back and forth over top of him and didn't even flinch. This little man is on the move now, there is no stopping him. He is walking everywhere! I measured him the other day and he is in the 10th percentile for height, he looks like a little garden gnome walking around. Midget or not, we'll keep him.

Look mom, no hands!

2010-09-06T09:33:00.000-07:00

Don't mind the face plant at end, he wasn't hurt. This was taken a week ago, and he is a little (not much!) more steady now. Let the bumps and bruises commence!

A couple Brody stories. The other day I we were eating dinner and I was trying to tell Casey something, and Brody had been chattering in my ear for probably 10 min and just kept getting louder and louder as I was trying to talk. I finally looked at him to tell him to calm down and wait, but before I could say anything, he just help up his hand and said, "I know, I know Mom. I gotta stop talking!"

The other day he said he had to poop and so Casey took him to the bathroom. He was sitting on the toilet and just messing around, not going so Casey said "Brody, Focus!" He finally went, and when he was done he looked the toilet and pointed at it and said "See Dad, Focus!". Maybe you had to be there, but I thought it was funny.

And you can't have one video without the other, here's Brody to sing us off.

Just some thoughts

2010-09-01T21:26:00.000-07:00

You have nothing in this world more precious than your children. When you grow old, when your hair turns white and your body grows weary, when you are prone to sit in a rocker and meditate on the things of your life, nothing will be so important as the question of how your children have turned out...Do not trade your birthright as a mother for some bauble of passing value...The baby you hold in your arms will grow quickly as the sunrise and the sunset of the rushing days.

Gordon B. Hinckley
(I saw this quote on another blog and loved it-hopefully they don't mind I copied!)

I heard the sad news last week of a young family that I knew only little. My heart broke for this family and had me reflecting a lot this week on my own little family and my 2 baby boys. Days are filled with tantrums, teething, potty training, bumps and bruises, cleaning messes, drying tears, making lunches, interrupted sleep. I sometimes forget to appreciate the special moments that come everyday from my two little angels. I forget to remember the feelings I was overwhelmed with when they placed those sweet babies in my arms.

I forget to remember those first smiles, the first giggles, the first hugs and kisses, the first "I love you Mom". I forget to remember to watch them for a few moments while they sleep and dream. I forget to remember to cherish the cuddle times that come so rarely for 2 active boys.

I forget to take advantage of just holding a sleeping baby. I forget that things like vacuuming, dishes, mopping can wait. I forget to sit down and just watch them play and interact together. I forget to remember all the sweet things that can come out of the mouth of a 2 year old.

I forget that time is going so fast and my babies are growing up right before my eyes.

I want to remember the feelings of those little arms around my neck and the slobbery kisses. I want to remember to take the time to read that one extra book, to get down on the floor and play trucks, to sit down and watch Toy Story for the 176th time with them on my lap. I want to remember to have ice cream and chocolate chips for breakfast once in a while just because, to go splash in the puddles without worrying about the mud, to leave the laundry and the dishes and the bathrooms and play with play-doh and make a big mess. I want to remember to get excited about learning the alphabet and colours and shapes. I want to remember to clap and cheer for those first steps.

I am thankful everyday for my two little blessings and for the enormous and wonderful challenge we have been given in raising them.

"Life's not the breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away."

And again.

2010-08-23T21:34:00.001-07:00

Remember that last post? This fits in so perfectly.

Don't you love....

2010-08-09T08:59:00.000-07:00

....how a picture can capture a personality so perfectly? Thanks to my sister for this little gem.

A lotta summer...

2010-07-31T15:39:00.000-07:00

...equals alot of pictures! So maybe its a little overload, but whatever. Its mostly to benefit my family up north so they can see the boys.

We've done the park,

We had another visit from the Flexhaug's, this time minus Jesse, but plus Grandma! We love to have Grandma come visit. Cache was not as shy this time, and Brody was so excited. I told him she was coming, and he answered "Oh yes!!" with a fist pump. Can't remember if this was before or after he told me I was driving him nuts. Hmmm, maybe he's heard that before? Casey and I even squeezed in dinner and movie thanks to Grandma.

All the Rice grandkids (although none with the last name Rice). Not the best picture, but really what can you expect.

Brody and Jenna not fighting. I am sure it didn't last long.

We crashed the Magrath parade,

This is where the two boys spent the whole parade. Brody just sat and let people bring candy to him. He had it all figured out.

We've had popsicles for breakfast,

and naps at lunchtime,

These pictures were only taken about 10 min apart. Cache was nodding off eating lunch, so I put him in his crib and when I came back, Brody started dozing. You know its been a good day of playing when that happens.

Not to forget a trip out to Beazer for some swimming and a weiner roast with the Calgary Beazers. Brody tossed some rocks,

Cache ate some rocks,

Brody played in the sand,

and Cache ate the sand,

You can see a little sand at the corner of his mouth from his little snack.

Brody also got some new wheels,

Hey Brod, do you like your new bike?

We've also spent some time at the pool, had a visit from "Cowboy Grandpa" (what Brody calls my dad) and had a trip to the Magrath Senior Rodeo, we've had some weiner roasts and BBQ's, we bought a trampoline, and lots of other fun things. Phew, I'm tired, are you?

How fast they grow.

2010-07-15T12:35:00.000-07:00

Look at him go!! I think it looks funny because is so teeny, but he is on the move and no one can stop him now. He just likes to try and keep up to his big brother. What am I going to do when he can walk and they both run different ways?

And just another picture from the parade that Jackie sent of me and my growing boy.

July 1 Fun

2010-07-09T17:55:00.001-07:00

We had a fabulous time this year for the July 1 hoop-la in Raymond. Jackie and Jesse came down for a few days and we loved having them here! Brody and Jenna had a few (ok, more than a few) minor (well, some major) run-ins. I blame it on being 2--right? The only day I actually took out the camera was July 1, and for some reason never got a picture of any of the cousins together! They all had matching shirts and you'll have to trust me that they looked so cute together. The parade was great, the family BBQ was great, and the carnival on Main Street was great. All and all it was a fantastic day and we're glad the Flexhaug's were here to share it with us!

Happy Canada Day!

Remember this picture from last year?

And again this year....luckily this year he got over being scared and came out to join the party.

We ran into some of my old roommates on Main Street. This is us then....

And this is us now, 7 years, 3 husbands, 5 babies and a few extra pounds (ok, so maybe that's just me--don't these girls look great for having babies?) later. It really doesn't seem that long ago when we lived together, oh how time flies!

I hope everyone had a great Canada Day celebrations! Now get out and enjoy the beautiful weather that finally has decided to stay.

It came.

2010-06-27T21:52:00.001-07:00

It finally came, I am now convinced summer is here to stay. Let's all celebrate with a trip to Waterton, shall we?

and maybe some fun in the sun with the cousins...

And why not, lets throw all caution to the wind and learn to stand in our crib to celebrate the hot days.

See you all after the July 1 festivities!

Still waiting for summer....

2010-06-17T22:22:00.000-07:00

I am bitter. I am sitting right now in our somewhat flooded basement, cursing the incessant rain that just won't go away. It depresses me, I just can't get the motivation to do anything. Brody has watched way, way too much TV this week, I just can't bring myself to think of other activities for him to do, I did that all winter!! We should be playing outside.

Anyway, here is some pictures for my family to see what we are living with down here. We took a little drive tonight to see what was happening everywhere. You should enlarge some of them to get the full perspective.

One of the roads by our house.

Another road on the way to Ridge Lake.

The canal.

Some poor farmer's field.

Our awesome backyard--on the upside, look how green it is!

Our driveway--always wanted to live on lakefront property.

On our more positive note, this little one is on the move! I haven't got a picture yet, but he's got a mix between a scoot and a crawl. It gets him where he needs to be, which is usually after the dog toys or the cat.

I thought this picture was cute. Brody got that picture of the Savior in nursery and insisted on having it in his bed for his nap. I swear I did not place it there, that is where I found it when I went to check on him. He also told me when he woke up that "Jesus loves you".

How does that not melt your heart? Don't worry, if that doesn't, the rain will.

What we're up to

2010-06-10T14:28:00.001-07:00

I feel like I always post the same-old, same-old "not too much is going on around here" kind of post. I feel very boring, but then I realize we live in Raymond, and really, not too much does go on around here.

Cache is now 8 months and still so, so good. I couldn't ask for a more perfect baby. He now has 2 teeth and didn't seem to bother him a whole lot coming in. He eats 2 meals a day, not a tonne, but what he does eat he eats well. He is the worlds messiest eater, since he doesn't open his mouth for the spoon, he prefers to slurp his food off of it. It really does get everywhere! He has 2 fairly good naps a day, about 1-1 1/2 hours in the morning and usually 2-3 hours in the afternoon, and he goes to bed usually about 8 or 8:30. He loves Brody to pieces and can't wait to get on the move to follow him around. He has the best little giggle I have every heard. He doesn't crawl yet, but gets onto all fours. His arms have figured it out, but his legs haven't, and he usually ends up on his belly. He is still a runt at 18 lbs, but we love him anyway!

Brody is 2 1/2 now and is getting to be more and more fun. He still has major meltdowns, but they are getting better, or maybe we are just better at ignoring them! We are in the midst of potty training right now. I tried when he was 2 and he definitely wasn't ready. I can't lie, I was hoping that the same would happen now, so I could give up and try again when he was closer to 3. But we are on day 2 and he seems to be grasping the concept now. I know we have many months of accidents and even more meltdowns, but so far he seems to be doing ok. It is definitely draining though.
He still will have a nap if I make him, and it is always at the same time as Cache which is lovely. I am at a crossroads though. If he does have a nap, he is usually up until 9:30-10 (we do put him to bed earlier, that is just when he gives up the fight and stops coming out of his room and finally falls asleep). But I feel like he still needs a nap though, because he usually falls asleep right away. He is a great big brother and is so good at playing with Cache and bringing him toys and making him laugh. He is somewhat of a picky eater. The hardest thing is to just get him to come sit down and eat. He usually gets bored before he gets full. One of those things that I think will be easier to deal with the older he gets. He is talking so much more now, and is much easier to understand. He loves, loves, loves to be outside, especially with his dad ("Go outside and pway Dad?"). He loves to get rides on the lawnmower, quad, "woader" (loader) and anything else that Casey will take him on. He can count to about 13, can recognize all the letters of the alphabet (usually just the upper case), and knows most of his colours. He loves to sing, Twinkle Twinkle Star is the favorite right now, along with various Backyardigans songs. He is definitely bigger than most kids his age, and just had a growth spurt recently. I have no idea what he weighs now, but I am guessing around 33 lbs?

We love our 2 boys and wouldn't trade them for anything (well, most days).

Too good to be true....

2010-05-21T13:38:00.000-07:00

Well, we enjoyed the 1 week of warm weather while it lasted. Now it is super windy and a chance of flurries on the weekend. If that turns out to be true, I may just start to cry. We did take full advantage of the few days we had.

We had picnics at the park,

Cut the grass,

Brody hadn't had a nap that day, and the lawnmower put him right out.

We also had some back tickles and shared Dad's treats,

went swimming (it was just hose water and a little chilly as you can tell by the look on Brody's face the first time he went down the slide!)

Caught up on some Sports Illustrated (I promise this isn't posed, he really was just sitting at the table flipping through it).

Played some "this little piggy" (probably the cutest thing you have ever seen--also not posed, Brody just loves his little brother that much!)

And had some new additions to the farm life out here.

There is 13, 3 different moms all had the kittens in the same box. Weird. We are more than willing to give them away when they are ready, come on, I know you all want 1 or maybe 5.

That's been our life in a nutshell over the last week or so. And now we go back to hibernating. Summer is coming, right?

Family Pictures

2010-05-12T14:22:00.001-07:00

We had family pictures a few weeks ago by Mandy Baker. These are a few of my favorites! It was super windy, and Cache would not smile for anything and Brody tried to go AWOL, but we did manage to snag a few good ones.

This next picture cracks me up cause it looks like pure evil!

And a Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers in my life. I love you all!

I am so in love.....

2010-05-04T22:56:00.000-07:00

...with these two faces.

Can you see that little tooth in there?

And just in case you were were wondering, yes, its snowing again.

Random this and that

2010-04-25T13:49:00.001-07:00

There is no rhyme or reason to this post, just a bunch of random thoughts with a few pictures thrown in for good measure.

The weather down here has been crazy, all of which I have neglected to take pictures of. There was the crazy, insane snow storm that knocked out our power for about 14 hours. The most annoying part of that was that I stayed up late specifically to watch my new favorite show Glee after the kids were in bed, and the power cut out about 20 min. in. Sigh. But, on the other hand, I feel very lucky I wasn't one of the few houses that didn't have power for a whole week! Then, not a week later, the weather was beautiful, 20+ every day. We played outside everyday, went to the park, wore shorts and had way too many ice cream slurpees. Now it snowed again last night. Go figure. I know summer is just around the corner, hopefully it is here to stay one of these days.

I can't get over how different my two boys are. Let me give you some examples.

1. Cache is a pygmy. He is in the 40th percentile, and just so petite. He is just barely over 16 lbs and can still fit into size 1 shoes. Brody was almost 20 lbs at this age and always in the 90th percentile. But, they both have done things about the same time, rolling over, sitting up, both great sleepers, etc.

2. Cache is mostly bald, but whatever hair there is is blonde. Brody has dark hair and tonnes of it, always has had lots. Same goes for their skin. Cache is very fair and Brody has a darker olive tone.

3. Cache hates most solid food, Brody was always screaming for more. Maybe that's why he was always in the 90th percentile.

4. Brody has been and still is very strong willed, and always has to be on the go. Cache is so easy going and mild mannered and is content to sit and play. He is so easy to take anywhere.

5. Brody was easy to rock to sleep, and Cache prefers to fall asleep on his own. He also likes to be swaddled and Brody hated it.

6. Just look at the pictures, they don't look anything alike. I'm told Brody looks like a Beazer, and Cache looks like my side. I can't tell though.

I love them both tonnes, just thought the differences were interesting. It will be neat to see as they get older and play together how they balance each other out.

Have you ever felt this tired and just couldn't keep your eyes open any more?

Also got to have a girls night AND a date night this weekend as well. Thanks Lindsay for hosting the girls night! Great food, great company and great (and more than a little interesting) conversation. We just went out for dinner for our date night with our little 6-month old tag a long, and it was the first time we have ever gotten a babysitter for Brody that wasn't family. He did great and didn't even cry (so she says). Hopefully this is the beginning of something new!

What we do on a rainy day.

Easter fun

2010-04-08T21:51:00.000-07:00

We are still battling some colds still this week, so we haven't really been out and about. Not that we could anyway, the crazy wind down here has been horrendous. We, and by we, I mean Brody, have serious cabin fever. Anybody have any fun suggestions on what there is to do down here for indoor activities?
Just a couple pictures on our Easter this year. Brody had fun looking for his eggs, we had to take them and hide them again and again for him, he like it so much.

Checking out what the Easter Bunny brought (good thing the Easter Bunny woke up and put out his basket about 10 min before he woke up).

Searching for eggs.

The final tally.

Cache slept the Easter morning festivities away, so no pictures of him Easter morning!

We went over to Ben and Lindsay's for Easter dinner, where I neglected to take any pictures at all. I did manage to snag this masterpiece of the two boys when we got home though.

Cache looks evil, like the typical troublesome little brother. His expression reminds me alot of Justin's evil little brother face....

At the end of a fun day. So far Brody has been careful and hasn't drown Cache yet.

Cache is 6 months old tomorrow, I can't believe it. It seems like time has flown by, but also seems like he has been with us forever. At 6 months Cache:
-rolls over both ways
-can sit on his own for the most part
-has no teeth yet
-hates food so far. He doesn't cry, but pins his mouth shut. Rice cereal, fruit, veggies--you name it, he isn't opening up for anything!
-just in the last few weeks has decided formula isn't that bad. I have just started him on a bottle of it a day, and will wean him gradually for about a month, which is what I did with Brody. Freedom is so close, I can feel it! Nursing is not my most favorite thing to do, even though both my kids were good nursers.
-still has crazy eyebrows. For some reason they grow up instead of out. I thought he would outgrow it, but I think he is destined for life.
-thinks Brody is hilarious. Brody can definitely get the belly laughs out of Cache, its pretty cute to watch.
-loves Hank already, especially when he lays down next to him and he can just pull at his fur.
-is a great napper.
-has very little hair, unlike Brody, and whatever he has is coming in super blonde!
-used to sleep through the night, but now wakes up once or twice. Who knows why, but it can't last forever.
-chews everything he can get his hands on. Sometimes I forget his reach is as far as it is.
-is pretty much perfect. We can't imagine our lives without this little guy!

22 Things I've Learned as a Mother

2010-04-01T14:38:00.000-07:00

We've all been sick around here, so there isn't much to update on.
I've seen this around, and liked the idea.

1. When you're 2, kisses really do make bumps and bruises feel better.
2. Kids save the best tantrums for the public.
3. Dogs are a little boys (or at least my little boys) best friend.
4. My wise sister once said potty training will make you want to kill yourself...she was right.
5. Labour sucks, but its worth it.
6. No matter what kind of day they've had, sleeping children always look like angels.
7. Consistency is the best policy, but sometimes bribery works faster.
8. Bedtime always comes.
9. Baby weight does NOT come off as easy with baby #2.
10. There is nothing wrong with wearing hand-me-downs.
11. Nothing feels better than a big hug with a sloppy kiss.
12. Kids will eat almost anything if they can dip it in ketchup.
13. Sometimes Mom just doesn't do it the same as Dad.
14. When you go have a shower, make sure that the kitty litter and dog food are locked up.
15. Play dates don't happen often enough.
16. Mac and Cheese is ok for supper sometimes.
17. Admit it, newborns are kinda funny looking, even your own.
18. Some days growing up happens too fast, other days not fast enough.
19. As tired as you might be, sometimes the middle of the night wake up calls are the most special.
20. What works for one kid, doesn't necessarily work for the next.
21. Sometimes, the best way to learn "Don't tease the cat" is to tease the cat.
22. 2 boys are better than 1.

Brace yourself...

2010-03-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

...for the cutest picture ever!! I had just gotten out of the shower, heard giggling in the living room and came out to find these two playing just as happy as could be. He might be as big as a small horse, but he really is the world's best dog.

A trip to the park in Lethbridge. Cache loved the swing! I wish I would have gotten a video of him giggling in it. It baffles me how none of the parks in Raymond have swings. Weird.

Also, if you haven't heard, a big congrats to Jackie and Jesse on their new baby girl who FINALLY made her appearance. I can't wait to see her in a few weeks. You can check out some pictures of the little princess on Jackie's blog here.

A video for the grandparents

2010-03-03T12:55:00.000-08:00

Can you believe how fast this little one is growing up? He was actually sitting on his own today for awhile.

We had so much fun the last couple weeks watching the Olympics. Seeing all that red and white (and gold!), you can't help but feel patriotic! Speedskating was a definitely the favorite in this house, but we loved watching it all. Can't wait for it to happen all over again in 4 years!

My two little Canadians--Go Canada!

A little bit of this and that.

2010-02-27T21:49:00.000-08:00

Just some pictures of the boys for the grandparents and aunts and uncles up north.

We did go up to Spruce Grove a couple weeks ago for Miss Jenna's 2nd birthday. For some reason, the camera never really made it out of the bag. Just have these 2 pictures of the kids decorating cookies with Grandma. Judging from Brody's spoon position in both pictures, it doesn't really seem like a lot of decorating going on.

For pictures of the birthday girl, go to here to Jackie's blog.

My sweet baby Cache. I can't believe that he is almost 5 months old. He is the pretty much the perfect baby. Sleeps well, eats well, rarely cries, rides in his car seat well (for the most part), rolls over, drools REALLY well, chews on anything and everything-he is just the most content little baby, and we just love him to pieces. If we could only do something about the little rash on his face (due to the excessive drooling--seriously, you should see his shirt by the end of the day).

Getting a little help jumping from the big brother.

Ahh Brody. The true definition of "you can dress 'em up, but you can't take 'em out". He is such a good kid at home for the most part, so sweet, and now that he is talking a little more, pretty funny too. Still naps for a good chunk of the afternoon (Cache also has a long nap at the same time-life is pretty blissful in the afternoons for me at the moment), never had a problem adjusting to Cache, cleans up his toys, is nice to his pets, has never coloured on the walls, loves to "help" clean. Not sure what happens when we go outside of the house, to stay and play, the grocery store, to grandma's, doesn't matter where, at some point (or several points) sweet Brody disappears and we have AWESOME public tantrums. Just part of the toddler experience I guess (although, we seem to be having the "toddler experience" alot more than others!) . But we love him anyway and we'll keep him. Good thing he's so darn cute.

Doesn't his face say it all?

Who doesn't love a good mother/son moment?

2010-02-10T13:48:00.001-08:00

Update

2010-02-01T20:29:00.000-08:00

Ok, its not that I don't enjoying blogging, but we have been having some issues with our computer ever since we got it fixed and upgraded to Window 7. I think we finally have got the picture thing figured out. We have been pretty low-key since Christmas, not a lot going on around here. We are always looking for people to play with, so if you read this and want to get together, please feel free to come by!
These are just some random pictures of the last couple weeks.

Making him earn his keep.

Someone's birthday party, I think Ben's. In case you were wondering why his nose has ice cream on it, it was because he was licking his plate. Boys will be boys I guess!

And you thought you had hair problems. This was seriously how he woke up one morning.

I often wonder why we bought this child a bed. Not a word of a lie, every single naptime and bedtime, I go and check on him and he has fallen asleep on the floor and every day I move him back to his bed. The other night, he took it one step further. He was asleep in his bed (after I had already moved him there earlier in the night) when I checked on him at about 11:30. The next morning about 7:00, Casey gets up to go to work and finds Brody fast asleep on the couch. Who knows how long he had been there?

My poor neglected second child who never gets any pictures. I took this one just so I had one to post.

Brody's cousin AvaRay turned 3 and had her birthday party at the elementary school in the gym. I love this action shot!

Oh wait, I guess I took 2 of him! I don't know what to do about his face. His baby acne finally cleared up, but now he constantly chews on his fists and drools so much that now he has a rash around his mouth. Don't tell me he is getting teeth already!

Well, that's the last few weeks in a nutshell for the Beazers.

A Beazer Christmas

2010-01-04T12:47:00.000-08:00

We started off our Christmas holidays by going up to Spruce Grove for a few days before Christmas. We were there for 4 nights, but it seemed like we were barely there and ran out of time to do everything we wanted! We had 2 "Christmas Eve's" up there, went to the waterpark, ate WAY too much food, opened presents, presents and more presents. My two boys were very spoiled. Casey and I even made it out to a movie, just the 2 of us (The Blind Side-favorite movie right now for sure!). Who knows when that will happen again, thanks momma!

This was a few minutes before we had to throw away Cache's onsie due to an explosive diaper. Love how kids always pick the most ideal times for such events.

Learning how to use the new View Finder.

All the Rice cousins-not the greatest picture, but not the easiest to pin down 3 toddlers for a Kodak moment. In case you were wondering, Jenna's mouth is full of peas.

We came back home to Raymond and had Christmas morning with just the 4 of us, then headed over to the Beazers for more presents, more spoiled kids, more family and more great food!

Christmas Eve pj's. Brody loves Cache, but for some reason won't ever hold him, so Cache had to have his own chair for the pic.

Checking out what Santa brought. He ditched his pj shirt before he went to bed, something about the buttons bothered him. Strange child.

New hoodie from Dad. The rubber boots weren't actually part of the Christmas presents, he just thought that they would complete his stylish ensemble.

New shirts-everyone has to have something new to wear to Christmas dinner, right?

Believe it or not, this our first picture as a family of four. Not the greatest, but I'll take it.

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

How does life....

2009-12-17T21:22:00.000-08:00

....get any better than these 3?

Merry Christmas everyone!

Tag, I'm it.

2009-12-04T13:40:00.002-08:00

I figured since I turned 30 this week (gasp!) I would do a post all about me. I saw and copied this from Lindsay's blog.

Your Hair:

Driving me crazy. I am growing out my bangs and they are at the point that they are too long to really call bangs, but too short to blend into my hair. My hair is also a little shorter than I usually have it. I like it better longer, but after 2 kids, my hair has gotten even thicker and curlier, and just takes too much work to keep long!

Where is your cell phone?

In my purse, probably dead.

Your Mother:

Brody calls her "honey" instead of Grandma.

Your Father:

Hopefully coming to visit next week!

Your Favorite Food:

Popcorn

Your dream from last night:

I know I dream, but I don't ever remember them in the morning. The last one I remember, I dreamt that Jackie had her baby, an 11 lb red-haired boy. Weird.

Your favorite drink:

A&W Root Beer

Your Dream/Goal:

To take my family to Hawaii. I should probably have loftier goals, but with 2 really young kids, its hard to think too far into the future. We are just going day to day right now!

What room are you in:

The spare room/computer room.

What is your hobby:

Reading. I wish I could say exercising, but I absolutely hate it. I'll probably need to start it up soon though, since the baby weight from Cache is not just coming off on its own like it did with Brody.

What is your fear:

Mice and heights.

Where were you last night:

Out for dinner for my birthday and doing some Christmas shopping Brody-free!

Something you are not:

I wish I enjoyed cooking more. I can cook, but I see it as a chore, rather than something I enjoy, so I don't ever get too creative.

Muffins:

Blueberry, with a cinnamon crumble on top, yum!

Where did you grow up:

Spruce Grove/Seba Beach

The last thing you did:

Put Brody down for a nap. He still needs a 2 or 3 hour nap-thankfully!

What are you wearing:

A sweater and yoga pants. Its blizzarding and I have no intention of going anywhere!

Your TV:

Greys Anatomy and Private Practice are must-see's for me. I also like Big Bang Theory, Chuck, and just have recently discovered Glee.

Your pet:

Chocolate lab-Hank the tank.
The devil, our cat as she is affectionaly known by some.

Your friends:

Tough to find in Raymond, but I think we're getting there! We love having people over for play dates.

Your life:

Married 5 years, 2 kids, 1 dog and 1 cat. Right now my life is very blessed.

Your Mood:

Great-both kids are sleeping!

Missing someone:

I always miss my family, I wish we lived closer. Can't wait to go up in 2 weeks for Christmas!
I hate that Jill lives all the way in Calgary. Life was great when we both lived in Edmonton!

Vehicle:

GMC Sierra. We kicked the Focus to the curb and got the truck. Given the fact that we live in the country and with the crazy weather down here, I feel much safer in the truck. Also, 2 carseats are a tight fit in the Focus. Although, since I have only driven small cars, I find that I am the worst parker in the world in a big truck.

Your Favorite Store:

I don't know if it is my favorite, but since moving here, I find I am missing Old Navy. Not for myself, but they have great clothes for kids. MAC is also another favorite that they don't have down here.

Your Favorite Color:

Yellow, pink, blue-take your pick.

When's the last time you laughed:

This morning, Brody had all the eggs on the floor (broken-not so funny) in just his socks and diaper (that's the funny part).

Your best friend:

Casey, of course.

One place you go over and over:

Cache's room has the diapers, and with 2 kids in diapers (hopefully not for much longer) we are in there frequently.

One person who emails you regularly:

My mom. I also talk to Jackie at least 5 times-sometimes more!-a week.

Favorite place to eat:

Anywhere where I don't have to cook. I'll even taken McDonalds.

Where do you want to be in six years:

Hopefully in a house of our own, doesn't matter where, as long as I have my little family.

For some reason, the computer would only let me put in one picture, so I'll have more next time!

Birthday and Blessing

2009-11-25T12:49:00.001-08:00

We decided to have Cache's baby blessing at home, and combined it with a big birthday party for Brody since my family would all be down. I loved having the blessing at home. Casey did a beautiful job, I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful husband and the kids are blessed with a great dad.

Cache in his blessing outfit, looking a little stunned as he does in all his pictures!

It was so fun to have my family here. My brothers and sister in laws had never been down to our house before. It was so great to have everyone here, especially since everyone was such a big help with getting everything ready for the blessing and the birthday. Brody loved having his Spruce Grove cousins here to play with. Hopefully Jackie's next baby is a girl, so Jenna doesn't always get left behind by all the boys!

The super cousins.

Most of Casey's family was able to make it as well, minus the ones in Utah, and the ones in Calgary who unfortunately had the flu. The prize for most dedicated family member goes to my sister in law Lindsay, who had been having contractions all day and thinking they were Braxton Hicks, decided to come anyway. She ended up having Brenna the next morning!

Cache and his brand new cousin Brenna. He is a giant compared to her, she is so teeny. Hopefully they will grow up to be good friends!

Brody was also turning 2 the next week, so we thought we'd have a birthday party too, since we had everyone together. He is into the Disney movie Cars right now, so I thought we'd do a Cars cake. Since his 1-year old cake was a disaster, I left the cake making/decorating to the experts. My mom, Jackie, Megan and Julie all helped, I stayed away, and the cake turned out great.

My beautiful sister in laws decorating the birthday cake.

The finished Lightening McQueen (he's blue because our red turned out to be fuschia pink-not ideal for a little boy!). For some reason Brody got a little freaked out by the singing and the candles, but luckily he had some cousins step in to do the work for him, while he just watched.

He was so spoiled with presents, we are going to have a tough time thinking of anything to get him for Christmas!

My family that made it down for the big day.

On the day of his actual birthday, Brody decided to help himself to some ice cream for breakfast. I swear I didn't help him at all, he got it out of the freezer, got a spoon and bowl (which he didn't use) from the dishwasher and went to town. And you know what? I just let him--you only turn 2 once, right! He also had only a cupcake for lunch, and birthday cake at the Beazer's for supper. Could life get any better?
At 2 years old, Brody-
-likes to watch Backyardigans, Cars, Thomas, and Elmo
-loves playing with trains, cars, trucks, tractors--all the boy stuff.
-says tonnes of words and phrases, but doesn't really talk in sentences yet. Just alot of gibberish.
-loves to play with his cousins
-can throw a mean tantrum, anywhere and everywhere-although it has gotten better thankfully
-could care less about colouring and crafts and such.
-loves his dad. Only dad can give him a bath and put him to bed.
-has a serious sweet tooth, but hates pop
-sleeps in a big boy bed
-loves to try to give Cache his soother and blanket, and the occasional kiss and pat on the head.
-loves to climb anything and everything.
-copies and mimics everything we do. I found him in the bathroom the other day trying to curl his eyelashes with my eyelash curler.
-loves to talk on the phone, especially with his Grandpa Beazer.
-would live outside if I let him and loves to go for rides on the quad and motorbike with his dad.
-goes 100 miles an hour everyday, but occasionally slows down to cuddle and read some books-usually with dad, but mom will do if she's around.
-for some reason doesn't eat lunch, but can pack away breakfast and supper like there's no tomorrow.
-his dog is his best friend and his nemesis at the same time.

We love our crazy boy, even on the days where we want to give him away. He gets more and more fun everyday, and we feel blessed to have him in our family.

Happy Birthday Brody!!

Finally

2009-11-11T21:49:00.000-08:00

Oh, where to start. It has been forever since I did a post. Our computer crashed and we were waiting to get it fixed. So much happened since then, I don't even know where to begin, but I'll just dive right in.

Cache was born Oct 9, 2009, 8lbs 2 oz. I was 8 days late, and scheduled to be induced on the 9th. They were going to make me wait the weekend, and do it on Thanksgiving, but thankfully due to lack of staff at the hospital on the holiday monday, made it Friday instead. About 4:00 Friday morning I woke up with some minor contractions. Not enough to be painful, but annoying enough to keep me awake, they were about 10-20 min apart and kinda went away later in the morning. We headed to the hospital to be induced, and I was about 2cm when I got to there. The doc induced me anyway (yay!) and I sent Casey home to be with Brody (Leslie came out to watch him while we went to the hospital) thinking that nothing was really going to happen until the afternoon, which is what happened when I had Brody. The doctor said he would be back at noon to break my water, and that is kinda when we planned for Casey to be back. When I had Brody, he was born about 2 hours after my water broke, so I was foolishly expecting this to be the same. My contractions got pretty hard pretty fast and at about 10:00 the nurse told me I should call Casey to come back. I thought she was crazy, and didn't think I was far enough along, but I did anyway. Good thing I did, because after I phoned him, things really started to happen fast. I went 5 cm to 10 cm in no time flat, and both Casey and the doctor got there when the baby's head was starting to crown. Casey said he timed it, and he was there for about 7 min before Cache was born! People think I was crazy for sending him home, but really I didn't need him there until the hard part anyway, and luckily he made it back just in time. No time for an epidural AGAIN! Believe me, I wasn't thrilled at the time, but looking back I am glad I didn't have one again, and am quite proud of myself for going drug-free for 2 deliveries, even if that wasn't the plan:)

I debated putting this picture up, since it is so hideous (it was a hectic morning!), but it is the only one I have of the two of us so far. I definitely am not one of those girls that looks cute after labour.

I love this picture, I think it is so funny. This was just minutes after he was born.

So glad he made it in time!

Coming home the next day-I forgot how tiny babies are in their gigantic car seats.

He is such a good baby, only wakes up once, sometimes twice a night. I couldn't ask for anything more. He is already a month old and has grown a tonne. Brody was a nightmare for the first couple weeks after bringing Cache home, but has since mellowed and loves his baby brother. If Cache is crying, he brings him his blanket, and tries to give him his soother. My favorite is when he gives Cache kisses, especially the ones where he doesn't know I am watching. I still have yet to get a picture of the two of them together, or even the four of us together. Brody is anti-picture lately. I wanted one of the four of us leaving the hospital, but Brody was halfway down the hospital corridor with a wheelchair, so it just didn't happen:) Ahh, life is just going to get a little more eventful with 1 more crazy boy!

Skip a few weeks down the road, and we had Halloween. Brody hated his costume, and these are the very few pictures I could get of him in his costume. Since he barely wore it, maybe we can use it again next year! I wish I would have had one of him smiling, but this was the best I could get.

Pinning him down to get a picture of the whole outfit.

Cache's first Halloween!

Trick or treating. Notice the lack of costume again. We only went to 4 houses, but Casey had to carry him to the door of each house. Maybe next year will be more of a success.

Last story before I turn in. A week or two after Cache was born, we had let Hank outside. It was when it was still pretty cold with snow on the ground. Usually he is pretty good and sticks pretty close to the house, and bangs on the door when he wants in. It has been a couple hours, and we hadn't seen him for awhile, so Casey went looking for him. He found his tracks leading down to a lagoon, and followed them . He found that Hank had fallen through the ice, and had been treading water for who knows how long. Luckily there was a rope nearby that was tied to a tire frozen to the ground, so Casey grabbed it and jumped in after him. When he got to him, Hank was just about to go under. He hauled him out and Hank couldn't even walk. Casey carried him back to the house and set him down inside, and he still couldn't walk. He carried him downstairs and they both stood in the shower for a good 45 min and he seemed fine after that.
As much as he may drive me crazy most days, I would have been devastated if anything had happened to him. He is back to his old goofy self, and we are so happy to have him safe and sound.

Cache with his new bodyguard!

Anyway, there is still the baby blessing and Brody's birthday party, but that will have to wait for another post. Both kids and husband are sound asleep and I think I will join them!

He's here!

2009-10-10T19:53:00.000-07:00

He finally came! Cache Burton Beazer, born Oct 9/09, at 11:22 am, 8lbs 2 oz. Just 1 picture for now, I'll add more pics and details later!

Still waiting.....

2009-10-07T14:39:00.001-07:00

Just in case you were wondering, we are still waiting for this new baby to come. He is 6 days late, and seems to still be content right where he is.

In the meantime, this is what we've been doing while we wait...

Training Brody for his new bed.

It really didn't take any training at all. He's been in it for a month and he loves his new room, and sleeps great in his new bed. Couldn't have been easier. Hopefully he takes to the new baby just as easily:)

Doing a little baking/tasting.

And doing a little cleaning to keep things looking good while we wait.

Just so you know, dusting works the best if you are in your pj's and rubber boots.

Getting ready...

2009-09-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks we've trying to get things organized so we are ready when the baby comes. Since its another boy, we don't have anything really to get ready for him, other than diapers, wash clothes, etc. Its mostly Brody we need to get ready, and we've been doing up a new room for him. I can't take any credit at all for his new room. Casey thought of the idea, and did almost all the painting. I think it turned out great-maybe not what I would pick for my own room, but for a little boy, I think its perfect.
There are still some odds and ends I will need to do, like pictures for the wall, etc, but that can all wait. Starting tomorrow night, this is his new room. Wish us luck with big boy bed, I think we'll need it.

We have a huge living room in this house, and there was some dead space in a corner that I never knew what to do with. We finally came up with a little kids corner, and it works perfectly. Yes I am aware that is a pink TV. It was 50% off, don't judge:) Brody loves it, and I love it, especially now that I am getting tired and just want to relax, he has his own little space to watch movies, play, have a snack, whatever he wants. I am also realizing that Brody might be just a tad bit spoiled.

We were hit with the flu last week as well. Brody got it first and luckily was over it in a day. Casey and I both got it the same night within an hour of each other-3 am we were passing in the hallway taking turns with the bathroom. Whoever thought having both parents sick at the same time was a good idea was sadly mistaken. Brody was such a trooper and entertained himself
all day-even if he did stay in his pj's until 6:00.

Say cheese!

I normally would love this late summer we are having, but at this point in the pregnancy, I am done with the hot weather. Bring on fall! We took full advantage of the pool being open its last week, and went a couple nights so I could cool down and Brody had fun making Casey take him up and down the stairs for endless slide rides.

As you can seen, Casey still has his sweet tan.

Congratulations to Steph, Lyndsi, and everyone who has had their babies already!! I am more than a little jealous, especially to those who had them early.

But really, everyone is probably jealous of me, who wouldn't wish for the chance to sit in 30+ weather, with 30 extra pounds and too small clothes?

Hiatus

2009-08-26T14:10:00.000-07:00

Seems like I've been suffering from the same blog neglect as everyone else. Not that we haven't been doing things, I've just barely had my camera out and so have had no pictures to post. And really, who wants a post without pictures! We've just been enjoying summer, playing outside, going swimming, the usual. Brody and I did make a trip up to Spruce Grove a couple weeks ago. We usually stay at my Grandma and Grandpa's, but because of my Grandma's broken arm (happened when she decided to take up tennis:) we stayed at Jackie's instead. Thank you to Cade for letting us stay in his room, and use his "fancy bed"! Also a big thank you to Jackie and family for putting up with us while we were there, since Brody was a bit of a nightmare, and has since continued it since we have gotten home. Not sure what is up with him, I'd like to blame it on his 2 year molar's, which haven't popped yet, but I would rather use that as an excuse, than just admit he is just plain onery. He has developed an ear-piercing shriek that he uses when he doesn't get his way (which is often). Ahhh, toddlers.
Anyway, I didn't take a single picture while we were up there, but here is a couple since we have been back. I know Brody looks like he is wearing the same thing in all the pictures, but he only has one swimsuit, and we just happen to be swimming whenever I take pictures!

Having a snack at the pool.

We went and had a picnic up at a creek somewhere by Cardston with Casey's parents to escape the heat.

The only 2 that were brave enough to go in the water--check out Casey's sweet tan.

As much as Brody loves water, even he couldn't be convinced to go swimming in the ice cold water. He just stayed on the shore and did what little boys do best--throw rocks and get dirty.

Grandma and Grandpa Beazer relaxing in the water.

Looking like an angel.....don't be fooled.

Only 5 more weeks until my due date. I have been feeling good, but am starting to get a little tired now, and am anxious to get this little baby here. We didn't really have much baby stuff to get ready, since its another boy, but we do have to get a room ready for Brody. We are buying him a bed this weekend, and will start painting a room for him as well, so he can get used to it before the baby comes. Not sure how the transition into a big boy bed will go, given his current disposition-wish us luck!

35 weeks and counting....

Time for an update

2009-07-25T13:17:00.001-07:00

What have we been doing you ask?

That pretty much sums it up!