our life update from the year 2010

Wow! It has been a long time since we updated our blog. Well, in the last year and a half, we have managed to expand our family by 1 more. Elise Christine was born on 4/9/10 and is just perfect. Now she is 9.5 months old and all over the place. She crawls fast and has even started to push things around walking behind them. She loves music and as soon as she hears it, she is shaking her bootie and her head. It's so cute :o) She loves to mimic her brother, especially if he coughs or sneezes. Brecken is pretty much her favorite person in the world. She absolutely lights up when she sees him. For the most part they get a long very well; however, she is starting to get into all his stuff which doesn't make him too happy.

Brecken is attending an early childhood program one night a week. He loves going to "school" and learning new things. He can write his name pretty well, and we are working on our number recognition. He is really starting to like playing games such as Go Fish, candyland, shutes and ladders, and memory. He actually understands them too! All last week we would have game time at night after Elise went to sleep. It was so nice for Rob and I to sit down with Brecken and have quality time with just him. Brecken is still obsessed with airplanes and jets (please know that there IS a difference between the two ;o) Over Christmas we discovered that his Great Grandpa Rester was in the airforce--flying airplanes, and his Great Grandpa McGlothin ("Poppy Ray") used to work for Boeing-- making airplanes. The love of airplanes is in his blood.

Rob is currently in his last semester of school. He has 16 weeks of student teaching. He just finished week 3 of 8 in a 5th grade class. Once that is finished, he will have 8 weeks in a 3rd grade class. So far he is enjoying the experience, but is excited to work with the 3rd graders (more his age range). Cross your fingers that he will be able to find a job come fall!

I am still working in the NICU at Mayo. I work pretty much every weekend. That gives me the week to be with the kids. We don't have any daycare, so there are days of very little sleep and some with hand off reports. Hopefully we will have some sort of daycare lined up in the next few months to help decrease our stress and increase our sleep!

well, that was 2010 in a nutshell. Maybe i can be a little better at updating this blog in 2011.

Till next time...........

well, i'm sure you all know it's been a very long time since we've updated our page. With summer here, i just don't spend much time on the computer. Not sure where to start...
In June we took a trip to Virginia to see some old friends. It was only a few days, but was packed with fun. Brecken loved meeting his silly "uncle" Adam, and his cute sister Kate. Annah was a pretty silly girl herself and had plenty of toys to keep him occupied. We also got to meet up with Rachel and Jenny for dinner dates. Brecken loved the plane rides and he got to ride on a bus and he saw a train! WOW!!
In July we took Brecken to the ocean for his birthday. Rob's grandparents live blocks away from the beach, so we stayed with them for a couple nights. Brecken is in love with everything ocean now. what a blast to watch him play in the water and his fascination with the ocean. Kind of scary though....he would have just kept running in if we had let him. He wasn't as interested in playing on the beach as i thought he might be, but how can ya blame him when there is a GIANT swimming pool right there! He had such a great time with his greatgrandparents, grandparents and aunties that week. After our days at the ocean, we drove back up to WA and Rob's family threw a birthday bash for Brecken. He had a lot of fun with everything Clifford and all the kids. He did gain a couple "girlfriends" (rob's cousins) while out there :o)

He is growing up way too fast. He's talking in sentences and loves to be silly. He loves to play outside, say "NO WAY", and lately : "mom, i haffta needta fall down". he thinks falling down is very amusing...i don't quite get it. And he has to need to do a lot of things! it's pretty cute.
This weekend he spent a day with the Paulsons and then a couple nights with grandma/grandpa while mommy worked and daddy played with his sisters in Vegas. Sounds like he has been having a good time so far. But it will be so good to get him back home, three days away is a long time! I'll post some pictures sometime this week....

You got it DUDE!

Rob has been teaching Brecken a new saying/phrase each weekend it seems. Last weekend it was, "you got it dude!" and that has definitely stuck! and everyone is a dude. Grandma dude. baby dude. daddy dude. ...this weekend rob asks Brecken, "what are you doing?" his reply...."chillin". it's so cute!

Brecken is also quite into his "baby" doll lately. it takes naps with him. eats. drinks. POOPS (so, yes, it has a diaper). Brecken even got the babypowder out of my sight the other day and made sure baby had plenty on since he/she pooped. It has it's own blanket and is quickly becoming part of our family.

Easter egg hunt

This morning Brecken got to take part in his first Easter egg hunt. Some of the neighborhood ladies put it together for the kids on our block. This is the first year Brecken was able to do it since he couldn't walk this time last year. He was so excited to see the neighbor boys. He had to go get them at their house and walk to the park with them. Of course he wanted to take off right away, as he could see the large number of eggs sitting in trees and on the ground. After a few pictures and directions, he was off! He got a good amount of eggs for himself...didn't hesitate to climb under bushes or even to get them out of other kids' buckets ;o) Then the fun began....when he discovered chocolate and other goodies INSIDE! the eggs!! It was a very chilly morning, but i think all 3 of us had a fun time. Now he's all ready to go for another egg hunt next weekend! Enjoy the pics.

Morning visit with Auntie TeeTee

This morning i had an appointment at Mayo, so Auntie TeeTee took a break to watch Brecken. She took him on a little fieldtrip to her place of work to show him off. He loved it. He got to see a "big boy" statue, run through the subway, play on her "puter" (computer) and eat num nums! On the way back to the parking garage, we passed a water fountain that had moneys in it. He was so intrigued with the "monies shower" (anything that is even remotely wet is taking a shower). We were sitting near an auxillary lady who got such a kick out of watching him get so excited over this "shower" that she reached into her drawer and gave him a handmade stuffed duck. We thought that was pretty neat. Shortly after that he took off running again down the subway. All the people on the elevator let him push the buttons for them, and as we were getting off the elevator he so lovingly pushed the HELP button and then darted out. By the time i grabbed him the doors had closed so i couldn't tell them it was an accident. Oops!
He totally crashed shortly after we got in the van to come home. What a fun morning!

Fun times and Crazy schedules

This week was full of fun times and crazy schedules for Brecken. Last Friday-monday he went to WA with his daddy to see some relatives. They surprised pretty much Rob's whole side of the family with their visit. Brecken did great on the plane rides and loved spending time with his grandma, papa, reeree, amy and the puppies. For the first couple days he was back he would look for all of them when he woke up. He wasn't sure where the puppies went. (isn't it kind of sad that Brecken looks more like his auntie Reeree than his own mom? :o(

We tried to keep his schedule fairly normal this week, but it doesn't always work that well. Thursday we babysat Asher and Grayson for a few hours. Boy did those boys have fun. they played so well together and it was nonstop! For breakfast, Brecken had his first "real" bowl of cereal...milk and all! did pretty well to!

Brecken got such a kick out of Asher constantly running to the bathroom to go potty. Afer the boys left and Brecken took a short nap.....he had to "practice" going potty. That was an all evening affair! So, needless to say, i think we'll be starting that adventure next week....that is unless Rob feels up to trying it this weekend while i'm at work ;o)

Rob's 29th Birthday!

Today we celebrated Rob's birthday. It's funny how birthday's lose their excitement the older we get. However, the day was totally exciting for Brecken. We started off the day needing a new faucet in the bathroom, so Rob got to run to the store, get the parts and install. We were able to have a little family celebration between handiwork and naptime. Brecken got to blow out the candles for dad....a few times! I have a hunch that Brecken likes the Elmo birthday balloon more than Rob...go figure. Rob did have to work most of the day, which was a bummer for us, but sounds like his coworkers made the rest of the day fun for him. Brecken ended Dad's special day with a special gift on the rocker. He had been running around naked after his "shower" while i put his clothes away. Normally he will be good to go for up to an hour without an accident. Well.......a few minutes after sitting on the rocker i heard him cry. I picked him up and found a little present. The mom that i am i had to snap a few pictures of his first "poop on the furniture" accident. He said "showwwwy" and helped me flush it down the toilet. He is currently sound asleep as i am waiting for Rob to get home from work.