Books, books, books



Mason and Daddy spend time finding the hidden pictures

All the boys reading together...



Cudlling with Momma....is there anything better?





"Really, another picture?"

We have a great collection of books to read, but our favorites are still My Mommy Hung the Moon, any find the hidden picture book, Good night Moon, and now the Velveteen Rabbit!

Happy 33rd B-day Momma!!!!

Like father, like son....



"What else can I get into???"




The boys helped us plant flowers in the front courtyard, we'll see how many survive!



Grandpa came over to help celebrate

"Are you going to cut my hair?"



Pre-haircut




it's rough getting your haircut....



Happy Birthday to Momma!!!



Brandon loves strawberry cupcakes with vanilla frosting!!!

 This year, I took off a little extra time around my b-day, mostly to sepnd more time with the kids/family and to get some stuff done around the house.  Unfortunately, Mason and Kevin came down with a stomach bug on Friday, which meant an overhaul of my plans.  Which I have to say I am adapting to well, as I have realized since having children, nothing is on my time table anymore!

So, instead of the family going to the Children's Museum, Brandon and I had some quality time together on Friday.  We had a blast, once we found a place to park!  Have I ever mentioned how I hate driving around downtown...one way streets, needing coins for metered parking, and trying to remember where the parking garages are (since I never have coins in my car).  Brandon really had fun exploring everything and loved the fact that he was allowed to touch everything (which we were informed of upon arrival and immediately made me question when was the last time they santized "everything"). 

My little helper and I made my (and now his) favorite cupcakes, strawberry of course, and immediately ate one right after they cooled off.  Strawberry cupcakes have been my favorite since I was a child and I never seem to get tired of them and since Brandon is not a fan of chocolate, he couldn't get enough, I think he ate two or three Saturday.

The rest of my birthday weekend was spent recovering from illness and planting flowers in the front courtyard at my request.  Brandon helped me plant a few flowers while Mason mostly played in the dirt, occasionally eating handfuls and spitting it back out.  Overall, we had a good weekend and we even able to clean up the garage, give the boys haircuts, and have Grandpa over for dinner on Sunday....nothing I love more than re-organizing our clutter!!!!

Desert in bloom

beautiful cactus flowers

palo verde in bloom!

pollen laden cactus blossom

How many lemons do you see?

Inspecting the lemon tree

Our entire backyard is a natural desert landscape, filled with various types of cactus, mesquite and palo verde trees, and other desert "plants". I am pretty sure this backyard has managed to stay pretty close to it's natural form, despite our house being ~43 years old!!!  It amazes me that none of the prior owners put any time (or money) into it but I guess the flipside is it's a blank slate for us to make it our own.  The boys love to roam the yard however this usually results in someome getting a "sticker" in their foot (or leg, arm, etc) despite taking precautions. 
It only takes a little spring-time rain to bring the desert into bloom, giving color to what is normally a very green/brown backdrop!   P.S. today I turned 33 and am inspired to give a little color to our front courtyard...

Hand-me-downs

Just getting comfy in the lego bin...

Brotherly love!

So focused with putting the lego train tracks together... Mason is lovin' his tight fitting pj's (yes he is already wearing B's old 2T clothes) and Brandon is having a great time playing with his gently used Thomas the Train Lego set. A special thanks to Edina for all the great hand-me-down toys. I owe you another lunch!

Daddy's little helpers

We installed a new garage door this weekend and the boys were super excited to help, and by help I mean disassemble the workshop, relocate all of Daddy's tools, unscrew all screws at toddler level, and get incredibly dirty! But, by the end of the weekend, the project was completed and it looks great....of course, I forgot to take a before and after picture of the doorway.

Mason running wild

 "Help you?"  Another new favorite phrase, especially when it comes to feeding the dogs!  He will literally come running from the family room it he hears the dog food hitting the bowl.

 Hugs for Jakey.

 Yes Momma, I am being naughty!

 Watch out, I'm coming through!!!

More hugs for Jake.  Mason still does give the best hugs. 

Sleeps like a baby...

Mason is still sleeping in the "stink-bug" position at 18 months and I think it is too cute. He has, for the past 4-6 weeks, been sleeping through the night (once even sleeping until ~8am, but only once)!!! I know, finally!!!!!!, but believe me Mason does not follow the "rules" like Brandon did. He has ever been hard to rouse in the morning, often requiring a little cuddling and time to wake up before he is ready to "get ready for the day". He seems to take after Kevin and Brandon seems to be an "early to rise-get the day started" kind of guy like Momma.

Boys at play

 Brandon, ever the big brother, shows Mason how to use something.  Can you tell that Mason doesn't really care as he just wants to "hold it".  That is one of his other favorite phrases.

 "Here Lilly, drink some water."

"Sticker"

Despite our efforts since moving in, our backyard still has a fair amount of cactus and other plants with stickers that have caused numerous tearful moments for the boys.  These pokey plants have conditioned Brandon to "like the backyard at the old house better" and for Mason to think that anything in his shoe/foot is a sticker.  Everyday that we play outside, Mason will eventually walk up to me, hold up his foot, and demand the "sticker" be removed.  He has adapted this in his inside play but plucking imaginary stickers from our feet, which is all very cute.  He'll come over, inspect your foot, use his thumb/forefinger to pull out the sticker while saying "Ahh".  The cutest part is when he looks so proud of himself for making it all better.

Mason's 18 month check up

Mason visited Dr Gloudeman's today for his 18 month well baby check up. He did great, even let her do her full exam without a single protest! He is my tubby little tanker at 29 lbs (85%ile), 35 inches (97%ile). Right on track with his developement!!!!

Of course, he received shots but did well with the whole experience. Thankfully, unless we get sick, we won't be back until October 2012 for his two year appointment.

Fun at Grandma Diane's

 Today we went to Grandma Diane's house (AKA "Grandma with the short hair") to play and have dinner. 

 Brandon and Mason "supervised" while Grandma vacuumed up some broken glass shards.  Isn't it cute, both boys and Great-Grandma all covered their ears until it was all done!  The other day, while driving home from daycare, Brandon said, "I want to go to Grandma's house with the grassy hill that goes down and then up to the fountain".  Isn't it funny what kids remember?

 Yes, even Grandma Diane spoils Brandon by allowing him to play with her shop-vac, big and small.  Brandon still finds great pleasure in vacuums...figuring out what he can reattach the hoses to, but still won't turn them on.

 Big smile, say cheese Brandon!

Conversations with the kids...

Thursday night after we arrived home from our day at work (and daycare), Brandon asked me to read him our new book, "Everybody Poops". This book was recommended by our pediatrician who thinks it is just a matter of time until Brandon decides to do #2 on the potty. So yes, we are still trying to convince him to poop on the potty, any potty, but he is just so resistant! And yes, to all those asking, the more we insist, the more he digs his heels in, refuses, and demands his pull-up. But anyway, back to my story.

"Momma, read it again!" So there we sat on the floor in Brandon's room and re-read our book five more times, all the while, I had Brandon on one side and Mason snuggled in on the other. After a few minutes, Brandon turned to me and said, "Momma, are you thinking what I'm thinkin' about?" I'll be honest, for a brief moment, I actually thought we had made a breakthrough in the potty department but instead...

"I don't know, what are you thinking about Brandon?"

"I'm thinkin' about a Dream Light pillow!"

Now, I was a little taken back and surprised that he recalled a commercial from several days ago, but it has stuck with him and he talks about the Dream Pillow often! I might give in and get him one....as a bride to poop on the potty!!!!

Mason on the other hand has taken quite an interest in the potty, all of them. He even tries to imitate Brandon while he uses the potty, it's too cute! I just can't imagine going to Target and not buying any diapers! Think of all the money that will be saved. I hope having an older brother will help expidite the potty process for him...

Mason's vocabulary has really expanded the past 2-3 weeks. He repeats everything, has a good 10-20 words that you can really hear clearly. His most used words are, shoes on, outside, deer, up, baby, milk, bird, doggy, mama, dada, tractor, truck....and the list goes on. It almost seems as if he has become tired of listening to our conversations and is now ready to take part in them. Let me tell you, sometimes I would do anything just for two minutes of quiet!

Soakin' wet

The boys decided that playing in the water was the best way to cool off after playing in the sun today. Usually they raid the dogs water bucket if their play pool isn't filled up but today I had been trying to water our citrus trees when Brandon figured out how to detach the hose from the hose bib. Poor Mason, he seemed to have "taken on" the most water, thanks to big brother spraying him every chance he got. Doesn't Mason look cute in his 2T hand-me-down outfit? The boys love to wear their Arizona hats, just like Daddy, which surprises me because Brandon, at this age, hated wearing hats.

"Shoes on, outside". Mason loves to put shoes on, my shoes, Daddy's shoes, he is especially good at getting Brandon's shoes on and roaming the house.