Grace Kelly

Go ahead and call me Grace! Earlier this week I was upstairs looking for something and I was on my way downstairs to get in the car. Thankfully, I was by myself and Dustin had taken the kids out to the car while I looked. On my way downstairs, I slipped with 5 stairs left and tumbled down. Yikes! So graceful! I got a huge cut and bruise on my shin, but the worst part was severe pain in my foot. I could hardly stand or walk. This was Tuesday evening and we were on our way to Petsmart to get some more fish for our tank. The boys were so excited to go, I hated to make them miss it so I did my best to go since it would be fast. I walked in to the store, in a ton of pain, and there was a banner hanging with a puppy that looked almost identical to Marley. I had to look away and Bry walks up behind me and points and very excitedly says "Marley, Marley, look mommy it is Marley". It was all I could do not to burst out in tears standing in the middle of the store. Man, I miss her. I still struggle with the what-ifs, but that is besides the point.

By Wednesday, I was in such severe pain, that I was turning my foot in to walk. I was afraid I had broken it so I drug all 4 boys by myself to the ER for x-rays. 3 hours later we learned it was not broken, but a severe sprain. Thank heavens! They wrapped my foot and gave me a beautiful shoe to wear for 7 to 10 days and said I will be good as new. My foot is already so much better, and no longer hurts while I am just sitting here. It is still sore when I move it or put weight on it, but it is no longer painful.

Sleeping hard

Gettin' Dirty...Mark Sykes photo shoot

Mark called 2 weeks ago and asked if he could use my boys for a new photo shoot. Of course we said yes, and here are the results. Bryson got bit by an ant and then wanted nothing else to do with the mud. It was funny because we thought Brandt would hate getting dirty, and Bry would love it and it ended up being the opposite.

http://marksykes.com/ftphome/Vaughn4.mov

Longest stretch yet!

Brennan has been an amazing sleeper since he was born. Until he hit his birth weight, we had to wake him up every 3 hours and feed him. However, once he hit his birth weight and we no longer had to wake him up, he would sleep from around 11 pm until 5 am before he woke himself up. None of my other kids were anywhere near this good of sleepers so young, so I am very thankful he is. He has been stretching out his sleep, going to bed a little earlier and getting up a little later. Last night he was asleep by 9 and slept all the way until 8 this morning. I couldn't believe it! It is amazing how rested I am today, and so thankful for the awesome sleeper who isn't even 3 months old yet.

Ice cream & Pie

Our church held a church-wide ice cream social tonight. The kids loved seeing their friends, who they haven't seen very much this summer, and we enjoyed sitting and visiting with some of our friends. It was nice to have a relaxed evening just hanging out and visiting, something we don't get the chance to do very often. The boys and a few of their friends started playing duck-duck-goose. It was so cute, even Bry played and had a good time. Plus a nice bonus, Dustin won 2 free movie tickets...now to find a babysitter so we can have a date night. lol

What cute cows

Today at Chick-fil-a if you dressed like a cow they gave you a free meal. So I found these printouts on their website and cut spots from construction paper and we went to Chick-fil-a. I had a few extra spots so the kids put those on Dustin's shirt and the kids loved it. They have been playing "cows" since we got home, and Brayden asked the lady at Chick-fil-a if she thought he was a real cow as he wiggled his tail. She told them she thought for a minute she was in a pasture of cows and they giggled. They gave each of the boys a free kids meal with fruit (they asked if they wanted 4 or 6...for the same price we will take 6 lol). Then they gave Dustin a free sandwich for his spots. I also had a coupon for a free Chick-fil-a sandwich and a coupon for a free 8 piece nugget when you buy a large soft drink (love the calendars and that they take expireds). Anyway our whole dinner was $1.55 plus tax (for the soft drink) and we saved over $20!!! We didn't do this last year, but will have to do it again next year for sure.

Aren't these some of the cutest cows you have ever seen?

At least he knows what he is SUPPOSE to do!

Bryson is 2 1/2 and has no real desire to use the potty. He knows how and if I ask him to go he will go and has complete control over it. The problem is while he will go on the potty, he'll also go all over himself and could careless. So we are not really working on potty training now. I was in the middle of changing a dirty diaper and we had the following conversation.

Me: "Bry, this is so yucky".
Bry: "Ya, this is so yucky. I should have done this on the big boy potty like my brothers".

How do you argue with that!?! lol

Happy 4th of July...

Happy 4th of July!!! I am so thankful today, and everyday, for the freedoms I have. I can not fully comprehend it all. I am so thankful for all the military families out there who sacrifice so much to ensure I keep these freedoms. Thank you!

We are helping my parents work on the house they are flipping so we are in their tiny town. We were across the street with their neighbors shooting off fireworks, and the policeman came by and told us no fireworks in the city limits. They decided to take it to the country since they still had several big ones to shoot off. Now it was almost 11:30 at night, and my parents are in bed and I am heading that way right after this. Brandt was so sad we weren't going, and he didn't whine but he just looked crushed. My awesome hubby decided to go so that Brandt could go as well. He is exhausted, late night, early morning, worked in the heat ALL day, and the bed is calling his name. lol However, he sacrificed to make his son's day, what a great daddy!

Brotherly Love

Brennan was asleep on my bed and started crying. When I went in to check on him this is what I found.
Notice, Brandt is tickling his feet.
He is saying "get him, get him" and then kissing his head (this normally makes Brennan laugh out loud)
When Brennan was still crying, Brandt sat him up. I can't believe Brandt did all of that perfectly, Brennan was secure through it all and Brandt was watching his head. I love my boys!

Swimming fun!

The boys had a swim birthday party to go to, and they loved it. It was their first swim of the summer, since I tend to stick to the splashpad when I take them by myself.

Brandt is a natural fish. He can swim in the deep end, but knows to stay near the side in case he gets tired, then he can grab the side. He loves throwing pool toys to the bottom and diving down to get them. He has even started doing hand stands and backflips in the water. He would live in the water if he could.
Brayden is no longer afraid of the water. Well, he was never actually afraid, but he never wanted anything to do with it, because he was afraid it would get in his ears. He has gotten past that, and asks daily if we can go swim. He loves wearing a life jacket and grabs one on the way in the pool, I guess it gives him more confidence.
Bryson really likes the water as well. The pool we go to has a shallow end you can walk into the water in. Bryson stays at that end for the most part, but for some reason he seemed to be drawn to the deep end. He would sit on the ledge and kick his feet, he was people watching for a while.
Brennan wasn't sure what he thought about the water at first. He is almost asleep here, so I guess he decided he did like it after all. Instead of cake they did cupcakes for the kids. Bryson doesn't play around when it comes to eating. lol He tried to get the whole thing in his mouth in 1 bite.
This is what happens when you give a 2 year old a staining cupcake. lol

And when you give one to a 4 year old as well. lol

Minivan

Brandt "I know why it is called a minivan".
Dustin "Oh, ya why is that"?
Brandt "Because it carries many people".