You Can Sleep Anywhere But in Our Room!!

Oooohhhh the joys of trying to get him to stay in his big boy bed. It's been a tiring and frustrating time for us lately as we have tried everything we can think of and used advice of family, friends, and even SuperNanny.com! LOL Everything from being sweet, to being angry, to creating a sticker chart (which ended up thrown out of the room after then 11th time up the first night we made it), to putting a picture of Chad and I up in his room, to baby gating him into his room (he somehow mustered up enough strength to knock it down), to closing his door and holding the door knob (I didn't like that one, I don't want him to think his room is a bad place), to locking our door and telling him he could sleep anywhere in the house, just not our room (didn't like that one either as things were slamming around not knowing what he was getting into), to baby einstein lullaby music, to taking things away (all of his movies are still in the closet until he earns them back), oooohhh what else? How much longer is this gonna last? It usually takes an hour or so to get him to stay down, then he's up at some point in the night for an unknown period of time ranging anywhere from 1/2 hour to 3 hours! We wake up exhausted in the mornings and go about our days as zombies in anticipation of having to do it all over again the next night.

A Night with the Old Kraft Crew

My friend Erika recently got married, so it was a great occasion to get some of the old Kraft buds together for a night of fun, drinkin, dancin, and most important...laughing! I always have a blast with these guys and hanging out with them reminds me how lucky I am to have such awesome friends all around. In the journey of life I have made some awesome friends every step of the way. I've got my high school buds that I'm still close with that I wouldn't trade for the world and am so lucky to have a great set of people that have been there for me every step of the way. In addition I have another awesome set of people that were there for me when I didn't live so close to my comfort zone. While I lived in Chicago for 3 years, these people showed me numerous fun times, exposed me to diversity (which coming from a 100% white community was a great life lesson), and gave me sooooo many laughs and memories that I will cherish forever. The night at Erika's wedding was more of the same. It was sad to leave and it just makes me aware that I need to see these people more often. I like to surround myself with fun, happy people & that they are!

Another two days of swim lesson pics

Bradyn is a little fish. He does a great job at his swim lessons and is so excited to go every evening!!

Here's some video footage of his "paddling".

Swim Lessons!

The last two nights were Bradyn's first nights in swim lessons. I wasn't sure what to expect really but it was a "parent & me" class where a parent gets in the water with the kids. The first night I got in with him, and the second night was Chad's turn. It was indoor, but the water was a little chilly for mommy's liking. Bradyn didn't seem to mind though. He loves the water. We take him to the pool all the time and he already knew how to jump in by himself and puts his face in the water no problem. I'm afraid he might be a little too advanced for what he will learn in this class, but if nothing else, it's something for us to do together in the evenings and gives him an opportunity to be around other kids. It will also be a little structure for when he moves up to the next level. We sang a few songs, Motor Boat Motor Boat and The Hokey Pokey, we kicked, blew bubbles, and then there's Bradyn jumping in over and over from the side of the pool because he was getting bored. LOL. On Chad's night in the water with him, they sang some more songs and learned to lay back in the water. Bradyn's favorite part seems to be getting to pick a toy to play with for the last 5 minutes of class.

White Sox Game

Sunday we went to the White Sox game. We had gotten tickets from Chad's brother who has season tickets, but hasn't been able to go much this year because of all the new baby excitement. We took my dad with us for this excursion. We had a lot of fun tailgating before the game and at the game itself. It was a gorgeous day for a baseball game, and the ball park nachos were as tasty as ever! Bradyn had a fun time tailgating and playing ball in the parking lot, but gametime was just about his naptime. Right on schedule... he passed out and slept through almost the entire game. It was kids day and there were lot of activities that we didn't end up partaking in because our munchkin was passed out. haha. It was a fun, but jam packed, busy weekend.

Aunt Steph & Uncle Chad...Again

On Friday, Chad's brother and our sister-in-law had their second child making us Auntie Steph and Uncle Chad for the 4th time. We've got Zachary, Kyleah, Kyla, and now Miles. Dustin & Kris already had Zachary, who is 4 1/2 months older than Bradyn, and on Friday they welcomed Miles Steven to their family. They didn't want to find out what they were having, so it was a surprise! Miles was born at 5:01pm and was 7lbs 14oz and 21 inches long. Here are some pics from our visit to see them at the hospital on Saturday.

Peoria Air Show

Grammy & Poppy came in town for the weekend & we decided to go check out the Peoria Air Show. It couldn't have been a more perfect evening, nor could we have had more perfect seats! It was just a "teaser" show on Friday evening over the river, but it was great! We ate dinner at a restaurant on the river and sat outside. We decided to just hang out there because we had nice comfy patio chairs around a little gas firepit. The show started at dusk and continued well past dark. Bradyn loved seeing all the planes with "smoke coming out".

Grammy & Poppy enjoyed spending time with Bradyn (us too) and we all loved seeing Bradyn's reaction to all the planes going "upside-down and round and round." We also laughed at Bradyn as he danced at himself in the mirrored door at the restaurant. He's such a happy fun kid!