Spring in our Step

Spring brings colors and a seemingly fresh scent everywhere you go.  We enjoyed the pastels at Easter, along with the smell of chocolates and our Easter dinner with family.  I remember when I was a little girl, my mom would do our Easter egg hunt with the real eggs we dyed.  Those left a smell after a few weeks when they weren't discovered, that's for sure!  Our plastic eggs give no clues as to their location, and if  we find a stray or undiscovered treasure, we don't have to rush it to the garbage can!
 Easter Sunday is always special, and it didn't disappoint  
this year. We had a meaningful day discussing why we celebrate Easter and how important it is to remember why we do.   Here are the kiddos ready for church. 


Last weekend, Dave ran his fourth half marathon.  He was running a quicker pace than any of his other races, but he got a cramp and had to walk it out.  Even with cramping up, he tied his best time, so we are proud.  He brought an aroma to our spring of hard work...I just don't like to get to close to that springy smell!  Grant and Katelee ran the kids marathon and had red faces as they crossed the finish line.  They were so proud, as were we, of course. 

I feel like I am adding to the spring scents, but not in a pleasingly aromatic way.  Last week, I was covered in Brenna's puke, this week, I have cleaned up her poop off my floor multiple times.  In fact, just a minute ago, I walked by her door as she is supposed to be having quiet time and there was a faint odor.  This was unnerving as it had been quiet for a good 10 min, where I am used to her banging on the door exclaiming, "Let me out mom!  I happy!"  Sure enough, as I opened the door she was caught red handed...or brown handed, and brown armed and brown legged. She had yet again, attempted to change her own dirty diaper.  Have I tried pull-ups, potty training, diapers on backwards?  Yes to all those.  We've washed up, but I can't seem to feel clean. Maybe the kitchen sink explosion has something to do with it...our disposal was backed up (not a good idea to dump a huge spinach salad down the drain), and I thought I could take the pipes apart and get the blockage cleared.  Well, yes I could...only my little bowl for the draining,  wasn't prepared for the spray of green water flowing all over.  The water reached from under the sink to the pantry.  I'm not sure why I think I am a plumber at times, but hey, I saved myself a service call.  So, if you happen to be around me and you catch a whiff of "new car,"  I've decided to insert the car fresheners to the insides of my clothes.  It's for the good of all. 

What a Difference a Day (or Night!) makes...

There are moments in our lives that change us. It may be when we are introduced to someone new, when someone we know is no longer with us, when something is diagnosed, when a choice is made, but a moment or day that alters the path we thought we were on. I have thought a lot about this recently. Challenges and heartaches that are not foreseen seem to smack us in the face and our reality becomes different. We can't go back and remake a decision, but there are things we can hopefully prevent from happening again. I am learning this in my day to day sojourn and I would like to now apply this to a certain two year old. It's time to discuss Brenna.

Brenna came to us with a lot of spunk and ambition. Hanging from chandeliers and walking at 8 months is no small feat. While it is not uncommon for a child to climb out of their crib, I was unprepared for the distress it would cause in my day without my restful slumber. Little B has mastered the art of crib entry and exit and as of late would swing open her door in the middle of the night (say 2am) and insist on staying up for hours. We were frustrated and exhausted and debated on a crib tent, a door cover, etc. Last week, I just switched out our door handle from the bathroom with her bedroom handle. Now I can lock her in. The first days were rough. She would use her little fist and pound against the door saying, "Knock, Knock. Out momma." She stubbornly refused to re-enter the crib, but sat in her baby shopping cart until I would release her from her room. As I type this, she is slumbering away peacefully. So, I think our efforts have paid off. I laid her down after reading her favorite book, and she said, "Knock Knock, momma. Stay in bed." That's her way of retelling how last week went. She had said the first phrase, and she has my answer drilled in her brain. What a difference in our happiness a night of rest makes!

She has grown up a lot this month, her language switch has flipped on and we are fully conversing now. My niece claims that while she was babysitting Brenna, Brenna wrote her numbers 1-5. She has yet to repeat that (well, for me, at least!); but with Brenna, I don't know that I can put anything past her! Next step: potty training.

I wanted to get a picture of Brenna when she jumped in Katelee's bath with her clothes on, and then Katelee made this disturbing face. It's an image I may not get out of my brain, ever!

Party Girl

February passed and we began our countdown for Katelee's birthday. Actually, I am pretty sure Katelee started asking me how far away until her birthday months and months ago. Literally, we had to review how many hours, minutes, even seconds before she would go to sleep at night. Finally, her day arrived and she let everyone know it was her special day and she was the birthday girl. Katelee chose to go to this big warehouse with inflatable slides and bounce houses, yet again for her birthday activity, opting out of a friend party. She loved every minute of it, took Brenna on all the slides, she and Grant made a new friend who was 'so cool,' she told me. Then, she picked our restaurant for dinner. Her favorite cuisine happens to be sold at "Old McDonald's," so we honored the birthday girl's request. Well, the kids did, Dave and I picked up take out somewhere else! On St. Patty's Day, her actual birthday, we had family over for her umbrella cake, ice cream, presents and Just Dance. Gotta love having a birthday on a fun holiday! Doesn't Dave look so thrilled to be wearing his party hat? He just loves themed parties with goofy accessories! She got Just Dance 2, a sleeping bag, squeenkies, an outfit, but she told the doctor today her favorite gift was lip gloss. She loved her sleeping bag, and promptly put it to use sliding super fast down our steep stairs...the doctor was not impressed when she told him that at her checkup today! As luck would have it, Katelee had "always wanted" all of her gifts and was "always hoping for them." So, it was fabulous. Katelee continues to be our adorable goof ball full of emotions. We have recently begun documenting how often she cries and the reason for the burst of tears. She was consulted in this endeavor and at times it has helped halt the sobs, other times she stops mid cry and has said, "are you going to have to write this down?!" One morning, I walked down the stairs and she said, "Um, there's something you are going to want to write down." She then told me she cried because no one was downstairs with her. Our darling 5 year old has lost it over one of Brenna's toys breaking, because Katelee was worried Brenna would be sad (but B couldn't care less). She sobbed when Grant came home from school and announced to me that his partner in class took apart their leprechaun trap, Katelee couldn't handle that because she "really wanted Grant to catch a leprechaun." The causes of crying are numerous and unique! We get a kick out of her and are always laughing. Love our Leprechaun lady!

Brenna Love

I was due with Brenna on February 15th. I told Dave if she was born on Valentine's Day, we would have to name her Brenna Love, it would just have to happen. He was not buying it. Well, she didn't wait to the holiday and arrived days earlier, and due to her father's adamant feelings against it, the middle name never stuck. However, she has filled our home with lots and lots of love. Now, some of you may be shaking your heads and saying, "is this the girl that Kara has constantly used not so flattering and kind descriptions of?" Yes, yes it is. I may, a time or two, used some adjectives to relay her mischievous side, but most of the time, while she is a little imp, we can't get enough of her. Brenna is our latest talker and part of it is most likely due to the fact that she constructed her own language. For instance, she-she means she wants to color. Clear as a bell, right? Exactly. She has recently become more coherent in her speech, but we find ourselves nodding and humoring her, which mostly results in frustration on both sides. Brenna adores all the Disney princesses and carries the little polly pocket dolls around all day. Her very favorite thing to do is turn on "A Pa-Pa song" (Rapunzel song from Tangled) and grab a "preeby" (pretty dress) and "dass" (dance). She runs and twirls in circles non stop. Dave may or may not want to hit his head against the wall when the Tangled soundtrack comes on for the 45th time that day ;). Brenna had a puppy cake, got a princess hideout tent, Ariel and Tiana dolls for her birthday, and it was the greatest day of her life. She was the happiest little 2 year old in town. My dad said now that she's two, she has license to enter the 'terrible twos.' Not surprisingly, Brenna made a fake id a good year ago and has been attempting to pass as a terror for quite some time, but we wouldn't have it any other way!

Lucky 7

Grant just turned 7! Katelee tells me everyday that she just can't believe he is seven and she forgets he is that old, and I am with her on that! Grant decided to have a Harry Potter themed birthday party with friends and this mom almost shed a tear of joy over that. Even Brenna was excited to wear her Harry Potter glasses! We had games all planned, wands to paint, spells to cast, and then the day arrived. The kids painted wands, they tasted Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean, cracking up and raising their fists in triumph as one of their friends ate a nasty one (booger, vomit, soap, sausage, dirt, earthworm...just to name a few). Each boy was sorted to their house. I had a phone on speaker under a hat announcing to each child their rhyme. We did the mummy wrap game. Any mother with some foresight would know it would end up like this: Potions were made, brownies eaten, kids ran wild, left and then I popped some Tylenol, collapsed on the couch while Dave exclaimed we wouldn't be doing that again! Grant, on the other hand, loved it. So, I guess you could classify that as a success?! The next day we had presents, cake and ice cream, (he is big into legos right now) and relaxed. Grant is seriously a great kid. I may be biased, but I have had that fact confirmed by people not even in our family as they have said he will be one of the few allowed to date their daughters. As a parent, I am all about arranged marriages for my kids, so that works for me. Grant is incredibly imaginative, creating worlds and games that last for hours. He is very opportunistic, striking deals and negotiations with us and everyone he knows. (Hello, he is obviously his father's child!) He even tried to make a trade with the tooth fairy last week. I found a note with a tiny battery on it. The note said: Dear Tooth Fere (fairy): Ples (Please) trade this batre (battery) for gold. Love, Grant

Some of his propositions are not very fair. I frequently find Katelee doing his chores he has tricked her into, or playing games she gets trapped or hurt in; secretly she loves it, though. I feel lucky to have had Grant in my life the last 7 years and we all adore him!