Weekend Part 2

Saturday, we invited the DeLoach's to come swimming at my parents house. We had mostly clouds for the early part of the afternoon but then finally the sun broke through. I actually woke up a little sunburned. Go Figure!

This was the result of lots of fun running around the pool after mama told him not too a HUNDRED times. Lesson. Learned.

My cutie pie!
More running...but in the safety of the grass.

This boy LOVES his daddy!

Rob, Bryce, and Kim

We ended the night with a HUGE thunderstorm from TS Bonnie. And we all passed out as soon as we hit the pillow.

Weekend Part 1

My weekend started early with the end of summer school on Thursday. So...what did we do to celebrate? A Braves game! We had a BLAST! We got the cheap seats in the grass, only $5.00 and actually got a seat at the picnic tables right next to the bullpen. We made some very nice pitcher friends and got a couple balls from them.
Friday evening we celebrated my father-in-law's birthday at Ken's sisters house. Getting all 5 boys together is definitely entertaining!

Brody LOVED riding in this...

and drinking ice water out of a "big" cup.
Ryan took a turn too.

UGHHHH...he is not the CUTEST baby!! My sweet nephew Cole.

A little cousinly love...

Love the expression on my little man's face. I mean pure ELATION!!

And this would be Cole's brother, Connor. Another handsome fella

More wrestling...

Brody is so blessed to have so many cousins so close by to grow and play with! And Ken and I are so lucky to have such amazing families! We love yall!

Little Man~Not So Little Anymore

On July 9, two very important events were quietly celebrated:
(1.) Ken and I have been married 5 years!
(2.) Brody turned 2 and 1/2.

Ken had to work since having the previous weekend off to go to the beach. So after work we had a nice dinner at Char...one of my FAVORITE places to eat!

On that same day, Brody turned 2 and 1/2! I can't believe how fast he is growing and changing and how much he is learning. I know all mamas think their child is a little genius and I'm no different! So....I haven't done this in awhile but here are Brody's Likes, Dislikes, and Milestones.
Likes:
his MSU pillow and a close second, his Elmo pillow

Anything with Buzz Lightyear, Nemo, or Elmo

Chicken Nuggets, French Fries, and Dip Dip (ketchup), popsicles, easy mac, green beans

Swimming in the pool at PAW PAWs HOOOOOOOOOOUSE (as he says)

Outside...the child would live out here if I'd let him

his LaLa B..my sister Lauren

both sets of his grandparents...literally to death!

bedtime

naptime

Sliced Cheese

Dislikes

milk is starting to creep up on this list

anything I tell him to do...terrible two's anyone?

SAND...very sad to anyone in the Barnard Family

most veggies at this point...not sure what happened here

Using the potty

Milestones

Brody is like a little sponge and soaks up EVERTHING!!

He can identify the capital letters, B, R, and O anywhere in print.

He is talking quite a bit using mostly complete sentences.

His speech is still a concern and will be tested in October. He fronts most of his sounds, unable to make the hard sounds from the back of the throat such as the /k/ sound. It pretty much omitts those all together.

He tries to sing the ABC's hitting most of the letters.Can put puzzles together...the big chunky ones

Can identify common objects from picture or tangible item.

Can tell you what the color of something is

Can identify something that is shaped like a circle or square

Can count to four by pointing, and rote count to ten...sometimes.

Has become very independent..."My do it, mama!"

Eats with fork and spoon, drinks from a cup

Plays independently well

Knows what he prefers over other things, makes choices

And that's my lil' man in a nutshell! Ken and I are so blessed to be his parents!

Beach Trip 2010

Over the 4th, we took a beach trip with our good friends Kim, Rob, and Bryce. We went to Gulf Shores, AL and stayed in an AMAZING condo overlooking the beach. Despite the oil, we had perfect weather and a GREAT time! Brody hated the sand so we bounced back and forth between the beach and the pool. We did all the typical Gulf Shores things, Lulu's, waterpark, go carts, outlet malls. It was such a relaxing time and was good for Ken to get a break from work.

Brody at Lulu's

Bryce and Brody wrestling...

Silly Brody

Still being silly...

Pretty beach...with the pretty oil

Chillin...NOT in the sand.

Show Us Your Life~Bible Verse

My favorite bible verse came with the birth of my sweet boy, Brody.

"I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are your works, and my soul knows very well." Psalm 139:14

He was born with Phieffers Syndrome and I'll never forget the horrified look the neonatoligist gave me when he saw Brody's feet for the first time. I secretly smiled to myself knowing that it was just not that serious having the syndrome myself. I knew Brody's first year of life would consist of obstacles to overcome, but that he was PERFECT in every way.

I only wish I could have remembered that feeling of that day in the hospital during the surgeries, doctor's appointments, and playdates of his first 18 months. I became so insecure as a mother losing sight that God has a plan for everything and that he would never give me more than I could handle. I had felt so defeated and just wanted to know why he wasn't like all the other kids. Why did it take him so much longer to do things...why did he have to have surgeries...why did he have to go to therapy?

But with Brody's 2nd birthday, I finally let the insecurities go...and began to thoroughly enjoy EVERY moment with Brody out analyzing everything he was doing. I feel so guilty for the way I felt then. While I embraced his accomplishments, I put too much focus on what he was behind on. He is such an amazingly smart, vibrant, energetic little boy who I absolutley love to pieces. Brody is fearfully and wonderfully made! Ken and I are blessed beyond words!

This post was part of "Show Us Your Life Fridays" at kellyskornerblog.com

Journey to Ansley

Two very special people to Ken and I have made a huge decision to adopt a little girl from China. Follow their journey here. I ask you to pray for their family and for this sweet little girl who God has chosen for them!

Busy Busy Busy!!

Sometime this weekend I hope to get pics loaded from January till now. Can't believe how much of a blogger slacker I've been lately! But...this face...


and these orders.... have kept me EXTREMELY busy!!! But I love having the opportunity to let a little creativity loose while making a little extra fun money. If you haven't been over to Oopsie Daisie in awhile...be sure to check it out! oopsiedaisiedesigns@blogspot.com

Its A Colorful World!

I know its been awhile since I've last posted but its been so busy around here lately! But I did want to post Brody's latest accomplishment...he's learned his colors! Woohoo! He's still unsure every now and then but its funny to watch him really think about it. He'll say a color and I'll tell him that's not it...and he sits and stares and then finally tells the right color. He's a hoot!

I got him saying them on video so of course I had to post it = )

Brody's 2nd Birthday!!!

This past weekend, we had Brody's 2nd Birthday BASH!! HA! Elmo was the theme because well...my kid is just slightly obsessed! This were the invitations that I made. (And yes...those are all his Elmo's...courtesy of his Gigi and Papa)

This is the front...

And this is the inside...

We had a slight change of plans due to a death in the family. Yesterday would have been Papa's 82nd Birthday! Happy Birthday Papa!! And with all of the family Jan. birthdays ( 5 to be exact) we pushed it to the last weekend in Jan. We were on the coast at Papa's visitation on Brody's actual birthday, but his M.E. had him and he had cupcakes and they sang happy birthday to him. We got home later that evening and let him open his present from us at my parents house. This picture was taken the next morning with his birthday breakfast...ha a cinnamon roll with 2 candles!

The Friday before his party, he had a party at school. His teacher Whitney is AMAZING!!! She loves these babies so much! And you imagine her job...all day long with 9 one to two year olds...BY HERSELF!!!
I made the cupcakes myself..heehee don't laugh. But the kids really did think they were elmo so I guess I got the job done...despite missing the oreo mouths. ooops!!

Whitney and Brody...he loves his itt eee

Thank goodness Aunt LaLa was there to help clean up!

Then it was Party Day!!! He just kept walking by the Elmo sign yelling Elmo!!!

Breakfast of champs...eggs, toast, banana his fave!!

I hate that I didn't get many pictures of the party or decorations. I really hate it!!! Everything looked so cute!! Lauren did an awesome job with Elmo and was a HUGE help in getting everything ready. So were Ken, Mike, and Olivia!!! Thanks guys!!!

This was the table...we had Elmo juice (crystal light fruit punch), twizzlers, goldfish, M & M's, Elmo cupcakes, mexican cornbread, pizza pinwheels, and chocolate dipped fruit kabobs. And let me tell you...ALL of it was gone by the time the two parties were over...yes two parties...more to come about that later.

And if you look really hard you can see Dorothy and all of her little friends. We gave away real goldfish as the party favors. We also gave out a baggie of goldfish crackers for the parents who weren't too excited over taking a live fish home. = )

Brody's cupcake...

Then it was time to open presents...is it just my kid that is completely NOT interested in this or is it just the age.

Is Emily Kay not the cutest!!! And her momma just found out that she is expecting TWINS!!!! Congrats Molly and Mathew!!

The kiddos played for awhile and guests started leaving. But most were to return a couple of hours later for party #2! Ken's 30th Birthday PArty was supposed to be a suprise but I started realizing that we may not have the proper equipment to cook the hamburgers..aka...gas for the grill or charcoal. So I had to let the cat out of the bag about 30 minutes before everyone was to arrive. He was still surprised!!

I wanted to show yall Brody's playroom. Ken built him this bookshelf for all of his toys! We could give Toys R Us a run for their money.

This is his rocking horse that we gave him for his birthday. He LOVES it!!!

I just wanted to say a big thanks to everyone who helped make my boys days so special! I know it was alot to ask people to come back for Ken's party..it made for one long day...especially for the kiddos. But he and I appreciated so much!!! We are SO loved!!!!