Easter Eggstravaganzas

The Maz Fam had a big couple of weeks with all of the Easter celebrations. We started out up north a week before Easter for the Mazanowski side. Gam, Uncle Gar, Corey, Collin, & Hanna were in town from Pennsylvania, so we had quite the crowd once we added in the Maz brothers, spouses and babies. It was a beautiful weekend and Sunday was a great day for an easter egg hunt for the kids.

Zach and Bradyn ran the show, but we set aside some "easy finds" for Kyla and Miles. It was so cute to see all the kids together and watching Bradyn and Zach comparing and sharing their eggs as if they were baseball cards or something.

I had my photo equipment with me because I took Kyla's 1 yr pics, so we were able to squeeze in a quick grandbaby photoshoot. As you might have guessed, it was chaos really, trying to get 4 kids three and under to cooperate all at the same time. The best one... took a little photoshopping, but here's a couple for your entertainment.

We kicked off Easter weekend by coloring Easter Eggs. Bradyn really enjoyed this activity this year. He actually had the patience to wait for them to color and loved decorating them with monster stickers and crazy fuzzy hair.

This year we had to call the Easter Bunny and let him know we weren't going to be home on Sunday, which was super cute to hear Bradyn talk on the phone to no one on the other end, but yet still carry on an entire conversation while walking around the yard like he was Mr. Cool Pants. After he got it squared away with the Easter Bunny to bring his presents to Grandma's house, we headed down to Grandma Netter's on Saturday. It rained in the morning, but cleared off to be a perfect day for an outdoor egg hunt.

Bradyn and Kyleah had a fun time running around the yard picking up eggs. Bradyn kinda got a head start because Kyleah found Mr. Squirrel hanging out in the tree, so she was more intrigued by that than the eggs at first.

Once she got going though, she was all over the yard as well. It's so amazing to see how much the difference a year makes. Last year Kyleah was crawling towards the eggs, this year she did a good job keeping up with B.

We concluded the Easter celebration with dinner.. mom, uncle Steve, Jason, Kim, Ryleigh, Grandma, Aunt Teresa, & Jacob joined us, so it was great to have everyone together. Since we had an easter gathering with dad the following day, we just stayed the night at mom's as did Corey, Sarah & Kyleah. It was quite the slumber party and the kiddos didn't make their way to bed until close to 11! But they had a great time together.

Sunday was lunch at my grandma's (dad's mom), we pretty much just hung out indoors and ate because it was a pretty rainy day.

It did clear off JUST long enough for a super quick egg hunt and to hang out on the patio and blow bubbles because the kids were anxious to play with their easter basket goodies.

Overall, a super great Easter. We have lots to be thankful for. :)

Maz Pix

Maz Pix is officially in business! After a couple of months hard at it, the planning stage of my photography business is almost finished. I have been working with a business lawyer to set up a corporation which is a three week process in itself, in the meantime I have been creating marketing materials and a website, reading what seems to be an entire library of books, applying the learnings by taking LOTS of pictures of anything and everything and everyone, experimenting with my lighting, backgrounds, and props, and helping out other photographer friends with various photo shoots to get some additional hands on experience. I have been booking appointments left and right which include two shoots this weekend, one the middle of April, and an entire daycare center the end of April! I've also got another daycare shoot lined up for the fall already. Everything is falling into place nicely and I'm so thankful that I followed my heart and dreams when I did. I just knew that sitting in a cubicle all day everyday just didn't feel right. I felt trapped and held back from truly being...me. Work life doesn't have to be a miserable experience. It really can be fun, and well not really feel like work at all. I have technically been putting in 8-10 hour days 5+ days a week as I get things ramped up so it's definitely a full-time job, but it doesn't feel like work. It's a blast and it's mine and I get to make my own schedule because I'M THE BOSS! :) It's amazing what five months, a fresh start, an old dream, and time to actually pursue it will do for a person's happiness level. I am so excited for the present and what's to come in the future with Maz Pix!

Stay At Home Mommy

So... 5 months have passed since I closed the door to Accounting. Regrets? NONE!! :) Walking away from it all has already exceeded the expectations I had envisioned when I was considering doing it. I knew I was stressed, but never realized how much until the stress was gone. I new I was tired, but never realized how tired until felt what rested feels like. I knew I missed Bradyn, but never realized how much until I started getting to see him so much every day. I knew I hated number crunching, and remembered how much when I sat down to do the taxes. I knew I had a messy house, but never realized how messy until I actually had a chance to clean it up. I could probably go on and on, but you get the idea. I have thoroughly enjoyed these last few months with Bradyn. I keep him home three days a week and let him continue the daycare experience two days a week. We felt it was important that he continue to get that social interaction, and he picks up so much when he's there. We just couldn't bring ourselves to pull him out completely.

I have tried to keep a fairly similar schedule to the daycare experience, so much I guess that the first day we were home together Chad asked Bradyn what we did that day and Bradyn's response was, "we played school." LOL. Thankfully Bradyn plays very well by himself as well as with others, so we have "mommy & me" time and "just Bradyn" time throughout the day. The kitchen egg timer is the greatest invention ever and has come to be a constant background noise at our house. We wind it all the way up, when it dings it's mommy & Bradyn time. When it dings again, it's time for Bradyn to play by himself. This allows me to have some time to straighten up around the house and work my business as well as spend plenty of time interacting with him. Ding! Time to clean up. Ding! time to eat. Ding! Time to turn on soft music and take a nap. Ding! Ding! Ding! Love it!

We are super glad that the weather is about to turn around and get nice out because with such an energetic kid, it has been difficult to find things to do that let him burn off some of that energy. Bradyn even told me one day, "Mommy, we need a carpet." (referring to the fact that we have wood laminate in the living room now). I said, "Why do we need carpet?" Bradyn said, "So we can wrestle!" LOL He apparently misses that. We do have a family pass to the Children's Discovery Museum here in town, so we are frequent fliers to that place and have had a couple playdates with friends and family there. We have gone to a couple of indoor waterparks and down to St. Louis to the Zoo and City Museum. I knew Bradyn was an amazing kid, but only seeing him for a few hours a day when I was working only scratched the surface of what I knew. He stuns me daily with his vocabulary and conversations. He makes me shake my head at the phrases that he comes up with that are somehow used in the correct context, who knows where half of them come from. He knows his alphabet, colors, shapes, how to count to nineteen (LOL), is so athletic and energetic, loves to sing and dance, is a kid genius at puzzles, can identify quite a few letters, can have a book memorized after only having read it to him a couple of times, "shh, don't talk mommy, I'll read it", is very caring as he takes care of his "babies" (Nemo, George, Punkin, & WhiteSox Dog) "we have a really big day tomorrow, good night, I love you," and is very well mannered and polite, "may I be excused?" He is completely potty trained during the daytime including at nap, all we have left is overnight. Thank goodness I'm not missing any of it because he's growing up soooo fast!

No More 20's!

Well January was a party month that's for sure. Lots of 30th birthday celebrating. My birthday surprises and celebrations lasted over 3 weeks! It all started with a surprise party up in Chicago, which I thought going out that night was all my idea, so I was blown away to discover that all my old Kraft buds had gathered together to celebrate with me! Then I was surprised with another party with my family & friends back home in good 'ole Mt. Pulaski. I was kinda onto that one just because I was already surprised once, so I was on guard, but also because the plan to get me down there was a little bit out of the way and inconvenient. I was still pleasantly surprised with a room full of people in the back room at the Pizza Man though!
Chad's present to me (along with all the surprise parties) was a new living room! He painted the walls, tore up the carpet, and laid wood laminate. It's like a whole new room. Here are a few before & afters.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Aside from all that I had some great dinners, a movie with my best friend, a fun night out on the town with all our old college buds and a few home buds as well, and lots of great cards, gifts, and birthday wishes. Thank you again to everyone who made my 30th birthday one to remember!

2009-The Year in Review

2009 What a Year... Looking back at it, I must ask myself how the heck did we fit it all in!?

In January we began the potty training journey. Nothing real serious, but figured we'd start introducing the concept. That progressed throughout the year and we are nearly there. Bradyn pretty much goes #1 on the potty all the time and only wears a diaper at night. We are still working on #2, but are having some success here and there. :)

In February we decided to head up to Chicago to the Museum of Science & Industry for Valentine's Day. Bradyn enjoyed exploring all of the exhibits especially the farm stuff. Tractors, Combines, and Cows oh my!



In March, there's always Madness at the Mazanowski's! We LOVE college basketball & all the March Madness festivities. This year we started the madness by taking a trip down to St. Louis for the MVC tourney to watch ISU play. It was a gorgeous 80 degree weekend down there, so we got to spend a lot of time outside enjoying the arch, feeding the fish and Union Station and watching lots of basketball! Mom and I even stopped on the way down at Walmart in Litchfield to buy flip flops and tank tops because as we drove we watched the temperature increase degree by degree all the way down and once it hit 77, we thought we would be too warm in what we were wearing.. and wanted to get an early tan. ;) The following week we all filled out our brackets. We included Bradyn in this fun again and had him pick his bracket by team logo. Of course he didn't do very well, but we had fun filling it out!

The beginning of April, Chad had a work trip out in Vegas and it just so happened to be the same weekend as the NCAA Final Four, so as long as one ticket was already paid for, I went ahead and met him out there and made a weekend of it! We had a great time laying in the sun poolside & watching basketball at ESPN Zone. We also ran across some country music awards and watched the red carpet walk and saw lots of stars! I even got Taylor Swifts Autograph, but ended up giving it to a couple to give to their 9 year old daughter. I'm so kind. Also in April, we welcomed a new baby to the family, Bradyn's new cousin Kyla Rae Mazanowski was the first female Mazanowski born in 80+ years!

May is always good for camping so we went for Mother's Day. Bradyn had a blast throwing rocks in the water, running and splashing in mud puddles after a rain and watching the boats at the marina, "ANOTHER ONE!" "LOOK, ANOTHER ONE, IT'S MOOOOVING!". May was also Bradyn's big birthday month! He turned TWO on May 22nd, which was a Friday and I would have missed the majority of it because I would have been traveling home from a work trip out to California that whole week before. Soooo we ended up making a vacation out of it. Since my ticket was already paid for, Chad and Bradyn flew out and met me in San Diego, so Bradyn got a little extra special 2nd birthday treat. We took him to Sea World and to the San Diego Zoo. He had a blast watching Shamu, the dolphins, and all of the other animals. "Shamu, Shamu, Shamu!" We also had a good time hanging out at the beach too. Since we were gone for his actual birthday, we had his party the weekend before. He has been very much into trucks, busses, stop signs and all other things that go, so we had a "Things That Go" Theme party for him. Seemed appropriate. It was a beautiful day outside and we had a great turn out and he got lots of great gifts.

June was also great camping weather, so we went again for father's day. We went boating with my dad, which was the first time that Bradyn had been on a boat. At first he wasn't too sure about it, he became very quiet and mellow. Perhaps that was because it was naptime, we hadn't been out that long and he fell asleep. Once he woke up, he was rarin' to go and by the end of the day he was jumping into the water to us from the back ladder. We also had a fun time getting ready for the 4th of July this year. Bradyn and cousin Zach enjoyed watching Poppy light off old fireworks in the driveway and watching them go "pop pop pop", "do it again poppy!" He also enjoyed the sparklers too.

This year we went camping down in Shelbyville for the 4th of July and were hoping to see a great fireworks display over the lake. Well the weather put a damper on that real quick because it rained most of the weekend. The fireworks were cancelled pretty much everywhere around us. We got the wild idea that if we left...NOW...we could make it to St. Louis to see their fireworks. It was a 2 hour drive, but hey, spur of the moment trips are always memorable ones right?! Off we went in a hurry to St. Louis and ended up getting there just in time to watch the fireworks over the water. It was short and sweet and started sprinkling on us on the way back to the car. It was a zoo trying to get out of the traffic afterwards, but what else were we gonna do besides sit in a rainy tent or camper at the campground right? Since all of the fireworks in the area had been cancelled on the 4th, we were able to catch some rescheduled ones over Lake Decatur the next night. We met up with my brother and his family & dad too and watched a GREAT display over Lake Decatur. Beautiful. "Boom Boom Boom" said Bradyn. In July we also went to the Peoria Air Show with Grammy & Poppy. We lucked out and had great outdoor seats at a restaurant and had a great view of all of the planes. It was fun watching Bradyn get excited about all the planes and how they were "upside down!" Wow, July was a busy month because we also went to the White Sox game as a Father's Day present to my dad (a little after the fact), and welcomed another Mazanowski to the family...another new cousin... Miles Steven. We also put Bradyn in swim lessons which he absolutely loved and can't wait to get him going in the next class. It was more of just an introduction to the water and he mastered everything very easily because he had already spent all summer in the water. He even jumped off the diving board once, but it was a great way to expend some energy a few nights a week.




Ooooh and the big boy bed.... The transition started in July. It was a piece of cake... at first... He went probably a good three weeks sleeping in his big boy bed no problem. He would roll over and just go to bed.. I knew that was too good to be true. After a weekend up north with Grammy & Poppy, it began a rough 3 weeks for us. I don't know if that had anything to do with it, or if it was destined to happen anyway, but we had to pull out all sorts of bags of tricks and finally after being persistent and consistent we were able to break the bad habit of getting up multiple times. My favorite memory of this experience though was one night when I was at my breaking point at about 3 am I was sitting in the hallway crying out of frustration and exhaustion and Bradyn looked at me and said, "give me a hug mommy." Then continued on to say, "mommy, stop crying, go to bed." and pointed me in the direction of my room. I will never forget that moment. LOL

August was another busy month. We took Bradyn to Bears camp in Bourbonnais where he got to meet Staley, the mascot. He enjoyed jumping in the bouncy houses, playing football with Daddy, and taking a train ride with mommy around the grounds. August is also the time of year for Fairs and Festivals. We had fun with Bradyn's friends at the Katie's Kids open house (for their second location), riding rides at the Logan County Fair, and chasing balloons at the Lincoln Balloon Festival. Then there was the Mt. Pulaski Fall Festival the beginning of September as well.

August & September were great weather months and we spent a lot of time playing in the yard, going on bike rides, wagon rides, and walks on the Constitution Trail. We are so glad to have such a nice place to walk and ride so close to our house. Also in September was Bradyn's first REAL choo choo train ride. My mom and I took him on the Amtrak up to Chicago. Then Chad met us up there later that evening with the car. We played at Millennium Park and danced to our reflections in The Bean, took a water taxi ride over to Navy Pier and walked around a bit, then took the EL back to the hotel where we met up with Chad. The following day we went to visit all of the animals at the Brookfield Zoo.

October is always fun with the fall festivities building up to Halloween. Bradyn wanted to be the Tin Man this year, and he convinced mommy & daddy to be Dorothy & Scarecrow. It was pretty cute. Bradyn really enjoyed running through the fields at the pumpkin patch looking for the perfect pumpkin. "This looks like a good one." "Here's a good one." "Look, another one." I shake my head everyday because I would swear that there's a 4 or 5 year old tagging along beside me. After we brought the pumpkins home we had fun carving them. Bradyn lasted about 30 minutes then was done, so that left Chad and I to finish the carving. Bradyn was sooo proud of his pumpkin though when it was all done, and he enjoyed lighting and blowing them out each night. Also in October was Bradyn's first school field trip. The kids got to ride the school bus to Miller Park Zoo. I got to go along with them, and I must say it was the cutest thing ever and I look forward to many more opportunities for field trips with the kids. I don't know what they were more excited about, the bus ride, or the zoo itself. ISU homecoming was in October as well. Chad met up with a lot of the guys from college. My friend Moy came down to visit for the day as well. This was the first time Moy had ever seen Bradyn. They clicked right away and had a great time together. Now every Chinese guy on TV is "Moy." A nice day trip to Lake Bloomington, the Katies Kids Annual Weinie Roast, the Hahn Family Weinie Roast and lots of play time in the leaves rounded out October.

November brought us some scary news, we found out that my dad had to have open heart surgery. All of a sudden after some tests they determined he had a bad valve and had to have it repaired or replaced, but wouldn't know which until they got in there. Yikes!! Talk about nerve racking and throwing in the unexpected. The surgery ended up being in December. Aside from that I concluded the accounting chapter of my life. After 8 years of accounting experience, I finally gained the courage to walk away from it. I didn't love it and couldn't see myself doing it forever. I had the opportunity and support from my family and friends to just go for it, so I did. The plan isn't necessarily to stay home forever, but I doubt I will ever go back to accounting. At least not at this point. I'm exploring other things such as photography, would like to do something with that and kids, so my part-time job at Portrait Innovations is fitting me just perfect for now and will allow me to spend some extra time with Bradyn in his early years. Enough about me though. Back to November. Of course there was Thanksgiving and all the preparations for Christmas which leads us to December.

December was Dad's surgery, so the first few days of that were a little stressful and emotionally exhausting, but he made it through everything in great time and with great success and it ended up they were able to repair his valve, so he is on to a speedy recovery. Once my mind was at ease that everything went well with dad, we were able to sit back and enjoy the holidays. We went to see the festival of lights in Peoria twice, saw Santa twice "I want James. and dishes. and puzzles. Please?." and had four total Christmas gatherings this year. It was a great year and lots of fun watching Bradyn enjoy every minute of it!

A few things I didn't include above, but that rounded out the year for us were some fun times with great friends and family. We had two weddings this year, my friend Erika got married, so that was a fun time with some old Kraft buds, and then Chad's family friend Greg got married, so that was a crazy time with the Mazanowski brothers and sisters-in-law.

I think we were the life of the reception and found ourselves busting a move on the stage. Ooops :).

We also went to many concerts (well I did anyway). Chad came with me to see Creed and to see Daughtry, then I went with Mom to see the American Idol Tour where we got Danny Gokey & Adam Lambert's autographs and also saw Heart & the Bangles at the State Fair. All that and more...throw in the birthday parties, baby showers, baptisms, and halloween party, new years party, booster benefit, sand volleyball league, indoor volleyball league, Chad's softball league....and whatever else we could squeeze in a day.

Overall it was a pretty stressful year for me personally with work and travel and starting to get the itch to get outta there. Things got a little rough, but the fun times we squeezed in along the way kept me smilin'. Bradyn is always good for a smile too. No matter how rough of a day it was, he always has a way of cheering me up. He's a great kid and it has been a complete joy watching him grow over the past year. He amazes me everyday with how coordinated and athletic he is, how smart he is, and how polite and cute he is. If I had to describe him in a few words I'd say he's a very caring, loving, curious, courageous, smart, and tall little two year old whose favorite color is yellow, loves the movies Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, and Annie, and loves to eat "Noonles"! Can't wait to see what 2010 has in store for us!

Thank you everyone that was a part of our 2009 and making it a great year. Let's do the same for 2010!