Braden's Rash

Chad is traveling so it was just me and the boys today. Braden is missing Daddy and can't wait for him to get home! I'm so thankful that he has such a great relationship with his Daddy. They are such good buddies and I pray that will continue in the years to come. Braden was full of energy and orneriness today. He loved stepping on the plastic Easter eggs. He even tried to use one of the eggs as a ball - right towards the TV! Unfortunately, it was a handpainted WOODEN egg. Thank goodness it hit the cabinet and not the TV. We're going to have to work on remembering not to throw eggs. Braden loves playing with Dylon. He asked to hold him 3 times today. And he even tried to hold him while Mommy was in the kitchen. However, I don't think it went as well as he was hoping since Dylon was dropped onto the floor. Thank goodness that God makes children so tough. :) Braden also developed a rash today. We are thinking that it might be chicken pox since he was exposed last week. Since he's had the vaccine, it's hard to tell for sure. So far, it's just this area on his neck. We'll see what he wakes up with tomorrow.


Dylon was quite the chatter box today. He talked for almost 30 minutes straight this evening. It's a challenge to teach Braden the difference between babies and little boys screaming.


This is how you often find Dylon when he is laying on the floor. He seems like having his feet in the air. He's getting quite the bald spot on the back of his head. But, you can't keep this boy on his tummy. No sooner do you lay him down, then rolls right over. He's getting close to rolling from his back to his tummy, but not quite yet.

Well, I better head off to bed. Need to get some rest to keep up with these precious little guys!

I'll leave you with a few smiling faces ...

A snack for later?

A funny story about Braden ...

I was upstairs trying to get Dylon to sleep for his nap. When I came downstairs, Braden was very quiet and one eye was watering. I asked him if he was ok. He nodded his head yes. It seemed strange, but with Braden you never know. A few minutes later, he sneezed and out came a huge booger - running almost down to his chin. GROSS! I quickly grabbed a kleenex and had him blow his nose. Out came 2 chunks of something. "Braden, did you put something up your nose?" I asked. "Yes", he replied. "What...show Mommy." Braden calmly walked over to his table and pointed at his snack - honey smacks. "You put a snack in your nose?" And he nodded his head yes. I had him blow his nose, but no more chunks. Hopefully it was just part of a "snack" and he isn't saving more in there for later! Oh the joys of being a mom of a little boy!



We also had picture day at our house today. Here's some of my favorites.
(Can you tell I love taking pictures of these two guys?! )

My happy boys!

Brothers hanging out

This face doesn't say trouble, does it?!

Dylon is getting SO big! He weighed 15# at his 4 month appt.

John Deere ...

Wisconsin Cold

Braden sure does love his brother! He is very excited when they can look alike. He found this "woof-woof" hat in the drawer of winter clothes. It was huge on him, so I had to do some altering. When I told him to get ready to go this morning, he ran and grabbed it and then sat down on the floor beside Dylon. "Cheese!" What a great memory.

We are all surviving the bitter cold. Sunday we had quite the adventure. We woke up to rain around 5:30am. When we left for church at 8:00, the roads were slick and slushy, but we drove slowly and made it to church fine. With the ground still frozen, there was standing water all over the place. They even had to block off part of the parking lot and one entrance at church because of the water. Driving home, the roads were even worse. Once again, slow and steady and we made it safely home. Well, almost home. We pulled into the driveway, but lost momentum and had to slide back out. Chad tried to get up enough speed again, but we only made it part way up the drive. We have a slight incline on the driveway, but you would have thought it was a mountain for as much trouble as we had. The van kept sliding back and turning to the side everytime we tried to move forward. Chad and I got out of the van and almost fell flat. The driveway was a complete sheet of ice. It was almost comical. We couldn't even walk. We just slid backwards down the driveway. Everytime we thought we were making an inch of progress, we ended up going back a foot! The ice was so thick that the snowshovel didn't even make a dent. We tried salt - but no luck. We tried to get sand - but it was frozen in the sandbox. We tried birdseed (hey, we had it in the garage and thought it might give traction! :) - again, no success. After almost 45 minutes of struggling, our neighbor finally came over and the guys CAREFULLY pushed while I drove the van into the garage. They were able to give just enough push that the van gripped onto the birdseed and we made it up the driveway! Within a couple hours, the temperature and weather had changed enough that the driveway was fine. You'd never know that there had been a problem. At the time, it was quite frustrating. But now, it makes us laugh and is a fun story to share.

Big Helper & Talkative Boy

On Wednesday, Feb. 6th we got a snowed in! Throughout the day, 20 inches of fluffy white snow piled up. Thank goodness for wonderful neighbors who let us borrow their snow blower. We are getting tired of the snow. It seems we get more every couple of days. And tonight, more is on it's way!

Daddy was able to work from home that day, so we were all safe and sound. Since we were stuck at home, I used the day to get started cleaning the carpets. Braden was very excited to have the entire living room empty to run around in. He also loved helping vacuum.

Even once the hose/power was disconnected, he pushed the vaccum around while I steamcleaned.

Dylon is growing so fast. He is such a talkative little guy. He is totally in awe of his Daddy - he is usually all smiles and laughs when Daddy talks to him. There is a great video that I want to share with you, but I can't get it to upload for some reason. So, here's another one of him just talking. I'll keep working on the other one.

Another bit of news is that we have officially entered the land of mini-vans! On Monday, Feb. 11th Chad bought me an early Valentine's Day present. We are now the proud owners of a 2007 Toyota Sienna. The '98 Camry was having transmission problems, needed new tires, and had several other issues. Braden loves sitting higher on the road. I love how much easier it is to get the boys in and out and all the extra space. I felt like an "official mom" when I pulled into the parking lot at church on Tuesday and parked beside all the other mini-vans!

And last, just for your enjoyment, here are a couple pictures of the boys!

Dylon doesn't like to stay on his stomach -- he rolls over fast! So, it was quite a challenge to get this picture of him.

Braden climbed up beside Dylon on the chair and said "cheese". He was very happy that they both had hoods on. Notice the bib on "booff" the bear ... Braden thought he needed once since Dylon was wearing one.

Video Trial

Well, I figured I'd try a video upload next and see how that works out.

This is an older one from Nov. 2007

Getting Started

After much encouragement from my husband, I have finally decided to try this "blogging thing". Being so far from our family and many friends, it is hard to keep in touch. There are so many fun stories that we want to be able to share with everyone. Maybe this will be the answer...?!

While I'm not the best writer, I do love my family and am looking foward to sharing the good, the bad, the funny, and just life with all of you. I hope that you will enjoy this little glimpse into our lives.

Just to get you started and anxious for more, I'll share a few pictures of our recent fun in the snow on Saturday. It was Dylon's first adventure in the snow - he wasn't quite sure what he thought of being stuffed in a snowsuit. Braden loved being outside as normal. He enjoyed sledding down the hill, pulling his baby, and helping Daddy shovel the driveway.