Conversations with Brady

While sitting with Brady waiting for guitar lessons, he was asking me question after question. Finally I said "why do you keep asking me so many questions?". He simply said: "because, mom, I am a question asker". So true Brady Mac, so true! 

So Chris, Brady, and I were sitting around the table and talking about which of our kiddos may resemble me.  I mentioned that Brady resembled me when he was younger and he said  "No, mom.  I look like Dad." So I asked him, "who looks like me?"  He said: "Daisy did."  I started cracking up.  "What?"  I know he is set on the fact that boys look like boys and girls look like girls so, in his mind, there is no way any of my children can look like me because I have all boys and I am a girl.  Since Daisy was a girl (our yellow lab), then she must look like me.  So - through my laughter - I say: "She didn't look like Mommy.  Why do you think she looked like Mommy?"  Brady - "Well, you both have eyebrows."  I guess he has a point there.  We both do/did have eyebrows.

"Mom, are we free on May 17th?"  "I don't know, Brady, why?"  "Because my friend in my class invited me to her birthday party."  "Cool.  I am not sure, Brady."  "Free means available, Mom.  That we are able to do something."  Thanks, Brady.  I need that clarification!

Observing my friendly little guy while waiting for his guitar lesson last Saturday...we were waiting for his turn when another little boy was there.  He started small talk with him and then I overheard him say:  "Do you want to be friends?"  I love that about him!

So many thoughts.....

This journal entry has taken me forever to finish.  I need to allot some time more regularly to journaling because my kids are growing up too quickly : )

I really am wishing I had some sort of easy, convenient, mobile device right now for keeping up with my journaling.  I have had so many thoughts, conversations, activities, etc. that I wanted to journal about but with everything in my world going on, I have not had the time or opportunity to open up my laptop and document the things that I have wanted to document.  This is my attempt at just "dumping" all the things that I can remember out while I can still remember some of them.
Evan....the things he is currently saying that we LOVE.."I luh you" (I love you).  When you say I love you to him; he comes back with: "I luh you moan" (I love you more).  If you then try to come back with "I love you more", he retorts with: "I luh you mose" (I love you most).....I LOVE this most!!! (pun intended).  I have always made my boys look me square on for a direct kiss when I kiss their sweet faces.  In doing that, I have always said to them - if they looked away or turned to the side - "give me those lips".  Now whenever Evan comes in for a kiss, he says to me "Gi me dose lips".  The cool thing is that when he says it, he sounds just like me...inflection and all!  I love it!  He says costume - "costoon".  "not ri-ghat now". This is one of his favorites, especially when he doesn't want to do something we have asked of him.  "No fanks" so clearly and matter-of-factly.  He sounds like a little man.  He likes to say this when we ask him to do something; again that he does not feel like doing : )  "I got eeechee; I got eeechee" as he is scratching (I got itchies).  "Awww, cah mon."  (Awww, come on.) when things are not working.  He also gets frustrated when things don't work out that he is playing with.  He gets very mad and says, through gritted teeth: "It not wort!"; "It not wort!" (It's not working).

He is such a happy, fun child....and hilarious!  He is also VERY passionate; he definitely starts to get angry when things don't "wort"...I wonder where he gets that from : )

Not Just Me

A couple of weeks ago we finally pulled the big Graco swing out of Maddox's room.  About a month ago it stopped working...the motor was trying - you could hear it - but it wasn't moving.  After three kids...and almost to the point of Maddox being out of it....it conked out on us. 

Chris was going to investigate and check it out; make sure it was not fixable before we put it to the curb for this morning's trash pick up.  After careful examination, we pronounced the swing dead.  I was sad...not very surprising for me.  Was I sad because the swing was dead broken?  No, not really.  I was a little disappointed as I would have liked to pass it on to someone else when we were done with it.   I was sad because of what the swing represents.....all three of my sweet babies have enjoyed the swing.  There have been millions many naps in that swing....especially for Brady who would not nap in his crib FOREVER!  I remember stressing out when he was little that he would still be napping in the swing when he was 5 years old.

Chris took the swing outside and then when he came back in he said "I am really upset."  I asked him why he was upset and he said that he was sad about putting the swing out for the trash.  I could tell by his demeanor that he truly was sad.  I was surprised that something inanimate like a swing did that to him.  At the same time, I found it very endearing and was glad that it was not just me.

He went back outside to take the rest of the trash out, when he did he informed me that he had to take the swing apart and put it in the can because if he woke up and saw the intact swing sitting there it would really sadden him and he might grab it and bring it back in, unable to let it go.  Then he pulled something out from behind his back....the seat cover and headrest where our lil' angels sat.  He looked at me and said: "I couldn't throw this part away."  "This pattern, this material...I can't throw it away."  Of course I could understand.  It has nothing to do with the material or the pattern but - again - what it represents...that blue and brown plaid is our babies infanthood...their swing, their pack-n-play.  I picked up the headrest and smelled it....awww...smells like our sweet Maddox. 

So no more big swing in our house - and with Maddox being the baby - there will not be a replacement.  This is the end of an era.  I am just so happy - and touched - that it is not just me.

Brady at 3 1/2 months

Evan at 3 months

Maddox at 2 months old

Updates of my Kindergartener

I still have times were it is hard to believe that I have a kindergartener...even though we are a good two months in.  Brady is doing great.  He has made friends, enjoys his teachers (and they him), gets his lunch in the cafeteria with his pin number like a big boy, and so many other big boy things.  He is "reading".  I use quotation marks because at this point it is still just sight words, but excites and fills me with pride nonetheless. 

He is playing in his second season of soccer with Upward and it is amazing the difference in development in one year.  He enjoys it so much.  He is not one of the more competitive or aggressive ones in the group but he enjoys being a part of the team just the same.  He still will tell you - when asked what his favorite part is - that snack is his favorite part!  He has played in 5 games so far this season and has scored 3 goals (a singleton in 3 different games) - very exciting - last year he did not score any...not that it bothered him at all.  He just enjoyed being out there and running around with his teammates. 

We just signed up for basketball for the first time.  It will be fun for him to try a new sport. 

I was able to chaperone him on one of his field trips.  We went to Old Baker Farm - we LOVE that place.  It is where we go as a family every year to cut down our Christmas tree.  My sweet husband took a vacation day to sit with Evan and Maddox so that I could join Brady as a chaperone on one of his trips.  It was a fun time together....we rode in the very backseat of the school bus and Brady was a little nervous with how bumpy it was, he kept saying it was kind of like a roller coaster.  I liked it because he held my hand or wanted me to have my hand on his leg the whole time to help him feel safe.  I will take my cuddles where I can get them, especially now as he is growing up.

We can join Brady at school for lunch so today I am going to join him at 11:20 a.m. to have lunch with him.  He was very happy when I told him this morning that I put a note in his backpack with my lunch choice.  He and I have been talking for a couple of weeks about me coming to his school to have lunch with him.  This is something that he has been wanting me to do for a little while so he was very excited to learn that today I would be joining him.  Of course as a mommy that made my heart swell and I looked forward to the idea of that special time with him.  He and I sitting at the family table enjoying lunch.  He smiled big and gave me a big hug and then said: "I am going to invite Preston to join us."  Apparently when the kiddos have a parent or guest come eat lunch with them they are allowed to invite one friend to join them if they want to.  I guess I am having lunch today with my sweet Brady and his buddy Preston.  That is not exactly what I had in mind but I guess this is the beginning of that stage of life....I had to hide my minor disappointment in not having the one on one lunch that I had envisioned.  I am still looking forward to this experience with my big boy!
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Evanspeak

Evan is such a sweet & funny little fella.  He is at the delightful age where he is constantly saying new things....so fun and so cute!  Our favorites - not necessarily for WHAT he says but rather, HOW he says it are (translations are in parentheses):

• did ya heeya (hear) dat? (did you hear that?)
• whew (pronounced where with a "w" sound instead of an "r" sound) aww (are) you?
• hehwa (hair)
• sawdee (sorry)
• ahhh meenit (a minute, just a minute)
• hode me, hode me (hold me)
• wahh doin'? (what are you doing?)
• ah lud you (I love you)
• pop it (stop it)
• pupcake (cupcake)

What a delight!

So often I am struck by the differences in personalities between my two older boys. I had a little glimpse of it yesterday during lunch with my sweet Evan. We often take his shirt off when he eats thing that can stain and put on an "eating shirt" (old t-shirts that we don't care if they get stained), in lieu of a bib. I took off his shirt and as I reached for an "eating shirt", Evan says: "No mommy not eating shirt....my belly." Me: "You don't want to wear an eating shirt? You just want to eat without a shirt on?" E: "Yes, mommy. Just my belly." I just smiled and thought back to Brady's younger days - and even now - how uncomfortable he is without a shirt on. Swimming, eating, anything, Brady will ask: "Am I just going to - fill in the blank - in my belly?" He always prefers a shirt and has since he was very little. Evan, on the other hand, is completely comfortable being topless!

Sunday....Sunday....

A couple of Sundays ago I had what I consider a perfect kind of day.  I realized it at the end of the day when I was walking with my boys.  I looked over at Chris as we were walking in our neighborhood with our boys and just felt this complete feeling of contentment.  I realized that the day was the kind of day I enjoy most. 

It started with working my new part time job in the nursery at Prince of Peace Catholic Church (working toward our cause of paying off our unemployment debt) for their first mass.  Then I picked up all my boys and went to church.  After church we had lunch as a family, all my boys napped/rested well and I was able to rest some and also accomplish things around the house to feel ready to start the week.  When my boys woke up we enjoyed a great time playing outside and then a yummy dinner.  Chris grilled and I cooked some sides inside.  We had a great dinner and then enjoyed a walk through the neighborhood as a family.  The overwhelming feeling of contentment was unmistakable.  The reason this stuck out to me was the day was so ordinary.  We weren't on vacation, we didn't win any prize or money, we didn't make any grand purchase or learn of any extraordinary news....it was just a nice, simple ordinary day but it was the kind of day I love.  I thought this was noteworthy...so here it is, for me to remember that so many of my favorite days are ordinary days where there is fun, good food, a sense of accomplishment, a little exercise, great relationships, some rest, and an adequate amount of time outdoors.

Just something that I want to be able to remember and look back on!