Quick catch up...

Well things have been a little (actually A LOT) crazy around here...so that is why there is a lack of posting. We are getting ready to move next Friday---and in between going back to work, all the shopping, cleaning, quality time with the boys, packing, moving and unpacking things....I hardly have a minute. But here is what we are up to...(pictures will come soon---hopefully this weekend)

Brayden is 100% potty trained!!!! Yeah!!!! Don't get me wrong, I know that we will have accidents but he is doing GREAT!!! Best part is...he only like to go #2 on the big potty WOOOHOOO which is way less mess and clean up!!!!
He is loving his big boy undies---and with his potty money (he gets change when he goes) we went to Target this weekend. I let Brayden carry his change in a bag, and unleashed him in the toy section. I was a little worried at first, but he just browsed and tried out different truck and toys for about 30 minutes---in the end he settled on an ambulance and got a kick out of paying for it. It drives, shakes, makes noise, etc...he thinks its great! Best part, there were no tears or whining that he wanted more than one thing!
One last potty story--we went to our friend's house on Sunday night. They have 2 girls---one is Marshall's age and one is Brayden's age. Well, Anna, the little girl who is Brayden's age (who he will go to high school with later) decided that she was interested in watching Brayden go to the bathroom at her house---all 5 times that he went. Anyways, Brayden went poop and of course he has to check it out---and screams "Big Terd" Anna responds with "That's Beautiful" Hahahahah!!! That will be a great story to tell them later on in life!
Other than going on the potty, Brayden is just getting SO BIG and SO SMART! He is now able to count to 10, knows his colors and was just accepted into the early 3's preschool next year (I of course teared up thinking about him going to preschool already!)

Now onto sweet little Marshall. He is just so smiley and happy! What a 180 from his first few months of life. He is just a happy camper unless he is tired or hungry. He is a HUGE belly laugher---we got a video of it, and I will post it soon. He is super chubby---he is not quite 4 months and weighs around 17 pounds. I am still trying to squeeze him into 3-6 month clothes...but man they are tight! I just need him to fit in them until we move on Friday and I can break into the 6-9 month bins! He does really well on his belly---he can turn in a circle and pushes up to 90 degrees. He still cannot roll/tip over but soon enough. He is great at holding things and loves to sit in his bumbo while I am cooking or while we are eating dinner. He is just so cute and happy that he brings a smile to my face instantly.

Every day I just say to myself how much I LOVE being a MOM. It is seriously the BEST thing in the world. I LOVE having Marshall in my arms giggling and trying to talk to me while Brayden is playing and telling me about his day. Motherhood is of course hard and tiring----but it is WORTH every sleepless night, every hard time, every break down. It just amazing how much I can LOVE these 2 little people and I thank God every day for giving them to us.

3 months and Potty!!!!!

Oh how I LOVE these boys...and the love that they have for one another is so amazing already---they look at each other and you can just see the admiration in their eyes for one another...I just love watching them with each other. Marshall always giggles more when Brayden is around...and well when the baby is not in the same room as Brayden...he is upset.

We went to the Shedd a while back..we had a BLAST! Brayden of course loved the penguins the best...but I must say the jellies were super cool too! We also took Brayden to his first movie---a 12 minute 4D Happy Feet movie---and 4D is crazy!!! He wore the glasses....but the 4D comes into play because random things poke you in the back, there are smells, bubbles and water that squirts at you....not what we were expecting but fun!


My mom came to visit for a week before I headed back to work...it was so great to have her here to visit with and enjoy time with the boys. We went to the choo-choo diner, attempted to make a clay plaque of Marshall's feet and hands (I haven't picked it up yet to see the final project), made valentines cookies and much more...









Little Marshall also turned 3 months while she was here (I'm a little behind on blogging). He is doing SO WELL!!! We are through colic...thank goodness....and he is a MUCH HAPPIER baby. He is so stinkin' cute...he is very smiley, loves to laugh---and has loud, belly laughs. He eats A LOT and is still not a super napper....but he is AMAZING at night...he sleeps from about 9:30-6am which is great. He loves doing tummy time and has rolled/tipped over to his hip---but he cannot get his chubby little leg over! He loves to make cooing noises and talk to us. With Brayden I could not wait until he did the next thing....but with Marshall I am soaking up every minute and actually thinking about the next big thing makes me a little sad that he will be growing up just too quick....




Silly boys...

We also have BIG news....Brayden is POTTY TRAINED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.....we did it in 3 days...NO diapers, no pull ups, just went straight to the big boy underwear. The first 2 days led to a lot of wine....but by day 3 he was doing great...he is still not crazy about going #2 on the potty....but we are getting there...

Catch up in pictures and bullets...

Boy things are sure busy around here with 2 boys!
Here are some pictures from January...its been a while since I have updated the blog.
In bullets (and photos below) here is what we have been up to...
-As a start to the new year...we added to our family....our great friends Erin and Mike agreed to be Marshall's godparents...we are so HAPPY that they agreed...they are such wonderful friends and we are so blessed to add them to our family
-Little Marshall is doing GREAT!!! He is a BIG boy! He is eating a LOT and is doing so much better with the crying!!! I think we are through colic...he will be 3 months this week! He is pretty much on a schedule through the day....the evening is still a work in progress, but he is sleeping from about 10pm-6:30am which is AMAZING!!! He is smiling--he has a big dimple on his left cheek, is cooing, "talking", and giggling. He is just more and more alert each day. He loves to suck on his hands and when we feed him he holds our hands at times...precious!
-We had our first big snowfall (well, now we have had 2) but the boys enjoyed looking out the window and Brayden and I snuck out for a bit in the back yard to enjoy it while Marshall took a nap
-A few weekends ago, we went with another family to a train show...Brayden really enjoyed the model trains (while the men who set them up, were a little uneasy having a 2 year old next to them) but while we were there he got to ride Thomas...he is still talking about it!
-Brayden is really loving having a brother...today he cried under Marshall's swing while he was sleeping because, he wanted him to get up from his nap :) They love doing tummy time together (which Marshall is doing well at) and Brayden has even given his penguins (petes) to Marshall...which is a BIG deal!
-We officially bathe the boys together...Brayden thinks it is FABULOUS...this came about for two reasons---Marshall is so big that the water leaks out of his little tub and the last time we bathed Marshall in his tub on the counter...he must have had to urge to go...because he peed...all over Brayden! oopppeeeeseee!
-Brayden and I built a snowman...so fun...although, he kept running away with his nose! Stinker!
-Life with two boys is busy and challenging.....but I sure do LOVE them more than EVER!!!

Christmas 2011

I am a little behind on getting up our Christmas pictures...and for some reason they showed up really small this time (but I think you can click on them and they get bigger). Anyways, We had a wonderful Christmas...once all the craziness stopped. Lets just say that it started out VERY rough....after loading up the car---which by the way, we got a car topper for Christmas because we always travel with so much stuff---we stopped to get gas. Literally we pulled up, and no sooner than Aaron turned the car off....Brayden started puking...and we are talking buckets of puke. Luckily, we were close to home, so we headed home--gave him a bath---and then like clockwork, Marshall started throwing up too. We would clean up one kid and then next would throw up. We cleaned our house, kids, car, carseats, etc...for over 3 hours. Finally it got so bad we had to go to the ER....the kids had a virus...Brayden got to go home once he was able to keep down a popsicle and pedialyte (which was around midnight)....but little Marshall had to be admitted. It was awful. The poor baby had to get an IV in his arm to keep his fluids up. He did great though...quite the trooper. So Marshall and I stayed at the hospital. On Friday evening we were released--he was doing great. Both kiddos seemed better...so we decided to still go south for Christmas. So we loaded up again on Sat morning and made it---and since both kiddos were so sleepy, we did not have to stop, so we made it in a record time---under 5 hours. I am so glad that we made the trip...even though Aaron and I both were completely sleep deprived---no sleep for about 48 hours---but it was great to see family and celebrate the holidays. Here are some pictures from southern Illinois...













Next up was Christmas in Dixon. The kids got sick again when we arrived there...and then unfortunately got everyone else sick too after we left---so sorry about that! While we were there though, we did enjoy being with more family and continuing the Christmas celebration...










Even though, the kids were a little under the weather, they enjoyed Christmas! I cannot believe that little Marshall turned 2 months Dec 26th. And the cake you may have seen above---that was a birthday cake for Baby Jesus---per Brayden's request!