Spontaneity

My sweet B-man....

You, my dear, are a hot mess.  And I love each and every ounce of that hot mess.  You are outspoken, a natural born leader and quite the stinker.  Your heart is pure and wide and your bright eyes make me get up each and every morning.  You are incredibly intelligent...most people say, "He is too smart for his own good".  I have always explained 'you' to people, as, "he just gets it".  You read adults better than most adults read other adults.  You love to test your boundaries and have been oppositional lately.  You want things in life to go your way,(I mean, heck, who doesn't...) and you become visibly upset if it does not.  But, at the same time, you can turn off your tears and your face explodes into a smile within a mili-second if we quickly change the subject.  God, I love that about you.  You are very strong in your convictions at this young age of 2.  You are kind and inquisitive and love things that go high and fast.  You shovel your food in at record speeds and think Daddy is the greatest person on Earth.  You are independent and thrive on having your personal space, but will spend precious times cuddling with me and Daddy...something you do not do well with others.  You do not like it when anybody is close to your face or in your "personal" space.  It takes you a long time to warm up to people (in the physical sense), but when you do, watch out.  You are quite the charmer.  I call it "playing hard to get."  When you are asked for a hug by anybody but me or Daddy, you actually flutter your eyelashes, your little body goes all squirmy, your smile lights up the room and say, "noooo"...all the while, keeping up the "bashful" act you have perfected!!.  I love how you genuinely care when someone else is crying or hurt and you think the world has crashed down if you are scolded or disciplined.  You do not like to disappoint.  You love your teddy bear and always call out for him if you are tired, hungry, hurt or sad.  You watch older children in awe and want to do everything by yourself.  You came up to me yesterday, put your hand on my lap, kissed my cheek and said, "I love you Mommy...".  I love you more and more and more each and everyday sweet BB...you are the light of mine and Daddy's life.  Your personality is dynamic and I hope that never changes..........................  Love, Mom


My Sweet Wade...

My sweet and sensitive little guy.  You are such a love...to anybody and everybody, but you are a Mama's boy when it comes down to it.  You seem to lean towards the "B type" personality spectrum and are pretty easy going.  You are hard to discipline, as you immediately change the subject...like pointing to the airplane in the sky or the stain on my shirt or whatever distraction you can think of...you absolutely hate it and cry very easily and say sorry immediately.  You even put yourself in time-out if you have done something you know you are not supposed to do!!  Your athletic abilities are quite an amazing act to watch.  You jump high, run fast and your agility leaves me speechless.  You continue to be enamored with all types of animals and you know each and everyone by name and color and what noise they make.  You often fall asleep with your soft puppy dog in one arm and a couple of toy animal figurines in the other.  I think you would love roam wild with the puma's and elephant's...guess a trip to Animal Kingdom is in our near future.  You are fantastic at following directions and rarely bend the rules, but when you do, you do it big.  Oh, my Wade.  I could just stare at you for hours, watching your eyes open in awe with the wonderment that the world offers...how every little new experience is incredibly exciting and you drink it all in, giggling the whole way.  You are kind, loving, jovial, spunky and the entertainer.  You are such a little gentleman...something you were born with and something everybody around you notices.  You kiss and hug all of your teachers before leaving school and yell "bye" or "hi" to anybody and everybody within earshot.  You even ran after neighbor's taking a stroll the other day, in just a diaper, yelling, "Bye!!!!!!".  They walked away, dying laughing, as you were incredibly serious and stood in the very corner of the yard, stating your goodbyes until they were just a speck down the road.  My love for you is fierce and Daddy and I wake up every morning because of you.  Please keep your kindness and willingness to please...it melts my heart.  I love you more and more each day Punky.....................................................   Love, Mom

A few pics of our life over the past week.......................................

The boy's and I were out for a drive when I decided to pull off of 98, strip the boys down and snap a few pics. You see, we had no intention of stopping for a swim, so we had no towels, bathing suits...nothin'.  Our little dip in the ocean lasted 2.5 hours...the boy's jumping while I just sat back and took it all in.  I think the pictures speak for themselves as to just how much fun we had on our Saturday afternoon adventure!!

I love that you boys are as spontaneous as your Mama. Tons of good times ahead boys!

The Halloween costumes have arrived! I am so excited to see B and W in their little boxer men costumes. Todd and I have a bet, as to whether or not they will actually wear the gloves. (I say they will, as I plan to bribe them with candy!) We were dying laughing the other night when we took the costumes out of the package...the little muscles are attached to the shorts. It has a cape. And a champion belt. Oh Lord, lots and lots of laughs to come! (And of course, I just had to buy new chucks to go with the costume. B-mans are red and Wade's are black. Can you tell I am excited???) A little sneak peak:


Gearing up for the big day...



We had the pleasure of watching Daddy take part in his annual alumni baseball game at Gulf Coast. He pitched here before being transfered to FSU to play ball. The relationships that he formed, with the coaches, players and extended GCCC families, are still strong and what an amazing time all of the guys had reliving their glory days! Todd could barely move his shoulder the rest of the weekend and realized that "he just ain't 19 anymore"!!


My man has still got it baby...


B-man was in awe of the game unfolding before him and Wade could not understand why he could not be out on the field playing with his Daddy. He was literally trying to climb the netting to get to him. Just a couple of more years buddies...




I have an incredibly bad habit of leaving my shoes all over the house. Wherever I slip them off, they land. And stay, until I put them back on. We continue to giggle as the boys explore their world around them...

They thought they were big stuff, prancing around the house in Mommy's shoes. 

If you are looking for great toys to help your little ones fine tune their fine motor skills, Melissa & Doug and Target both make GREAT wooden toys for exactly that! The bead stringing has been especially fun, watching them start by becoming easily frustrated, to finally almost figuring it out! I LOVE to watch my boys learn a new task and beam with happiness and pride once all of their perseverance has paid off!


Other fun crafts we are going to get into this month...
Rolling pine cones in peanut butter, then in bird seed for an instant bird feeder!

Painting dry ziti noodles, then stringing them to make a necklace for our friends at school!

Taking model clay and pressing our handprints into it...then painting them after they dry!

Carving pumpkins, painting pumpkins and making homemade pumpkin pie and roasted pumpkin seeds!

Life has been pretty easy this past week. Just going about our busy little days...taking time out to enjoy the "cooler" evenings. The weather is starting to show the VERY beginning signs of fall...we are enjoying upper 50's in the mornings, quickly heating up to the mid eighties during the day and then back down to the 60's at night. Quite the change from the debilitating heat of Summer 2010. I say bring on the pumpkin spice, cinnamon brooms, mums, windows open letting the breeze circulate our home...football cranked up on the tube and JEANS!!!!


Check our their AWESOME and HILARIOUS costumes for Halloween this year!! Can you just imagine them in these ‘bad boys’?? he he he


We have been really enjoying spending 1-on-1 time with our boys. Daddy took B-man to the Deal's house last Saturday to watch football and Nana and I took Wade to the Common’s to pick out new Schleich animal toys and dance in the water spouts. It is wonderful to spend precious alone time with our boys. They crave it. We crave it. They both act like perfect little gentleman when they are apart. As Brody danced out the door, excited to have his Daddy all to himself and proud to be be sportin' his FSU football jersey (our new Saturday wardrobe for football season, he looked back and exclaimed, at the top of his lungs, "Bye Mommy!! Bye Wade!! I go with Daddy!!". Todd said that Brody read a book on the couch, was very calm and not too excitable. Wade acted demure at first, not really knowing what to do with out his partner in crime, but soon found that being the only kid to hold Mommy and Nana's hands was pretty darn cool. Pic of Wade enjoying his new toys...

If you have not had the pleasure of owning some of the Schleich animal collection, it is a MUST purchase if you have an animal loving toddler. We bought the "Mama" and the "baby" of the cheetah, monkey, turtle, horse, pig and cow. Thank you Nana for helping me spoil Wade on our special date!!

We have been doctoring lots of boo-boos, learning all about dinosaurs, running outside each night to say hello to the moon, meeting a fireman and practicing with textures/cooking at school, reading and exploring and pointing at all of the different kinds of trucks, collecting as many leaves as we can each day and proving to Mommy and Daddy that we are now (finally) champs at going nite-nite. They both lay down, ask to be covered up, blow us kisses after we say our prayer and that's it. Not a peep. Oh how I love this age...

They are still sloppy eaters, but have a blast doing it.

Brody is the fruit lovin', carb eatin', and with the exceptions of some meats, will eat pretty much anything you put in front of him kind of guy. I think that his motto, while eating, is..."the more I get on my face and shirt and arms, the better the food tastes..."! Loves mushrooms, tomatoes, salad, cucumbers, berries, peaches, oranges, zucchini, corn, green beans, squash…even tried sour kraut!! (He takes after his Mama in the will eat anything department.)

Wade is as picky as they come. Loves chicken, hotdogs, meatballs, hamburger, steak, fish, crab, pork, ribs, brisket…anything that even slightly resembles meat. Loves cheese, grits and an occasional yogurt, rice & beans, eggs and pancakes. That pretty much sums it up. He will devour any salty snack you put in front of him and tends to steer clear of sweets, unless it is a Rice Krispie treat or vanilla wafers. He still drinks more than anybody in our family and loves to dip anything and everything in ketchup. (He takes after his Daddy in the picky eater department.) I do not see sushi in his near future…


Sunday’s are our get ready for the week day. We do laundry, take long naps, stay in our jammies way longer than we should and the boys have recently started watching football with Daddy. We are eating up these times with Brody and Wade, where they still think the world of their parents, think that everything we say and do is really cool and always want to cuddle and be right by our sides. I know that this will sadly change as they grow up. The thought of it breaks my heart into a million pieces.


One last little thing to leave you with. I hate frogs. I don’t just kind of hate them, but I really really really hate them. They terrify me. And, just because I am scared to death of them, they have decided to multiply RAPIDLY all around the outside of our house. There are hundreds of baby frogs every where you look. Seriously?? Is this some kind of cruel joke that somebody is playing on me? This pic really does not do justice to the abundance of frogs that keep popping up all over. They even ride on the car windows and follow me to work!!!!!

Pop's and his little buddies...

The ever so spontaneous Pop's drove over and took the kiddos for the weekend, again, all by himself, all his idea!! (Grammie was down in Palm Harbor, celebrating Mimi's birthday...HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIMI!!) Brody and Wade are so lucky to have him in their lives. He is adventurous and patient and nurturing and loves his boys so very much. He begs to see them all of the time and they cherish their special time with their Pop's!! He took them to dinner at the Bayou, to ride bikes in the neighborhood, down to the dock to check out fish and crab traps, slept in bed with them each night and taught them how to play the harmonica! Todd and I drove over yesterday afternoon with the pups to enjoy a lazy Sunday afternoon in PCB. One of the highlights of the afternoon was an adventure we took to the local kids splash area...super fun for the boys and all of the adults as well! We cannot wait to go back, when we can make a whole day out of it! Do you think they had a great time, or what??



We then came back to the house and relaxed and grubbed on a typical summer dinner: grilled chicken, mac-n-cheese, green beans, grilled zucchini and a fresh tomato/cucumber salad... We stacked lego's as high as we could reach, showed off our harmonica skills, took one final walk down to the water, took a long bubble bath and then snuggled in for the night...what a great weekend!! Thank you Pop's, our parents enjoyed the time alone tremendously...we love you very much!

Results of Wade's surgery

At Wade's 6 week follow-up visit for his tubes and adenoid surgery, we learned that his hearing is now in the normal range!!!  Such a relief, considering the last time we sat in that hearing test booth, he could barely hear a thing and I cried.  This time, he swung that little head around to each and every little noise he heard.  The Audiologist gave me lots of "thumbs up" from the window and was grinning the entire time.  The surgery was a success!!!

We then dove into his speech...how we (Todd and I) feel that he might flourish with a little assistance from speech therapy.  We received the referral, had our initial assessment done at the house, and set up the appointment with the Speech Therapist, Infant Toddler Developmental Specialist and the Social Worker through the Early Steps program.  They set the appointment to review all areas of his development, seeing if he would ultimately qualify for the program, as it is FREE for Florida residents...a huge bonus!!  The Early Steps program is Florida's early intervention system that offers services to infants and toddlers with delays or a condition likely to result in a developmental delay. 

We attended that appointment yesterday morning...they tested him on the following areas:

Physical: health, hearing, vision


Cognitive: thinking, learning, problem solving


Gross & fine motor skills: moving, walking, grasping, and coordination


Communication: babbling, languages, speech, conversation


Social/emotional: playing and interacting with others


Adaptive development: self-help skills, (i.e. feeding, toileting, dressing)


Well....he not only passed all of the areas, but scored above average in most!  We are extremely proud and it feels good to know that he is on track and that his speech is not as far behind as we have previously thought.  We also found out that he has improved  by leaps and bounds, since his initial screening done at our home, nearly a month ago!  Way to go Wade Aubrey...your wit, intelligence and cognitive skills shinned through yesterday and you blew the observers away with your athletic/adaptive and gross/fine motor skills! 

Does it get any better than snugglin' up with your Dad? It melts my heart...watching these 3 interact...they are the reason I am on this earth. Tears well up in my eyes when I think of the impact they have made on me. I know I am often sappy and crazy emotional on this here blog, but, as most parents realize, the feelings we have for our little ones are overpowering...sometimes you cannot even describe them. Feelings that are all consuming and encompassing. Thank you God, for blessing me with these 3 special people, as I strive each and everyday to be a better person for them...

Over the past couple of weeks...

We were able to sneak in a quick visit with Mommy's dear friend/roommate/sorority sister from FSU, Shannon, while their little family came to the beach for a vacation!




And waited impatiently as cookies baked in the oven...



And helped me love on baby Cailey, while we watched her one Sunday...



And made a fort under Nana and Gator's dining room table...



And helped Gator re-do the bathroom...



And spent time loving on their Mommy



And watched football with their Daddy...



And played football in the Deal's backyard...(pics are blurry because the kids never stopped moving and, well, let's face it, I had my camera on the wrong setting):









And B-man had his 2nd ear infection and busted his bottom lip, again...



And Wade received a certifiable HORRIBLE haircut from Mommy...  (Probably the worst in history. I am so sorry baby.)

And sang Happy Birthday over and over...(Ever since their birthday party, Brody asks every day, "What are we doin'?? Goin' to a pahhtty?" And if we tell him no, we are going somewhere else, he then states to all who will listen, "Mommy and Daddy are at the office. Mommy and Daddy go to work. I go to school." He seems to have life all figured out at the tender, sweet age of 2!!)

And expressed their distaste for certain foods...

And showed us how they can skip!!

Just a few little odds and ends...

Dad and I watched on, as you both played and interacted with each other on the living room floor. Wade, you would hold up a block or a toy and ask, "Whats this?" or "What color?" Brody, you would then answer his question and go about playing. You guys did this for at least 10 minutes. It was the first time that we have really witnessed you two having a conversation...

I walked into the bedroom the other morning and Wade, you were holding a diaper in your hand, and you looked at me and said, "Uh-oh. Here Mommy..." and handed me the diaper. The DRY diaper. Your entire bed was soaked, as well as the wall, the carpet and anything within aim...Thank goodness the B-man is far enough away!

We gave you boys about 15-20 of those bendable monkeys (we had them in the marketing closet for God knows what reason??), while you were up at the office this past weekend, and we played matching colors, and counting and so on. Well, you both wanted to take them home, so out the door the monkeys went. Dad said that the head fell off of one of them later on in the day and you guys brought him the monkey to show him, completely freaked out, very concerned and very upset. This makes my heart happy that you guys are showing compassion and empathy towards something else. (Guess this means you guys pass the test of not growing up to be serial killers?)

The boys had their 2 year, well checkup! Wade is an inch taller and 1-2 lbs heavier! They continue to thrive and grow and are as healthy as can be! Wade's tubes still look great and his ears are free from fluid. They are both in the 80th percentile for weight and over 90th percentile for height. We still have ourselves some big ol' boys. We have taken them off of whole milk, per the recommendation of their Pediatrician, and we are now enjoying skim milk as a family. I honestly thought they would complain about the taste difference between whole vs. FF, but they did not even seem to notice!

We were in the living room last Saturday...putting on your FSU jerseys, that you both were so excited to wear. Dad looks down at Brody, after pulling the jersey over his head, and says to him, "Go Noles!" Brody says, without skipping a beat, "Go Gators!". He did. He really said that. That had to have been a sneaky teacher at school or a sneaky guy we call Gator...or even possibly Uncle Scott or Grandmother, trying to brainwash our sweet little guys. Don't you worry people. We will find out who is teaching our children these foul words and sayings. We will find out and we will get you back.

A special congratulation's to Big sister Sienna and Mama and Daddy Goldberg...WELCOME TO THE WORLD BABY EVAN!!!