Update in Photos

No time to blog lately, but here are some recent photos:

Season finale of flag football...


Fourth of July...


In the bounce house...


Brady & Madison @ Hammock Beach Resort...



Hammock Beach...

Hangin out in the condo (Hammock Beach Resort)...

Driving the fire truck @ Walmart...

Happy 4th Birthday, Madison...

Mr. Beasley

For those of you who grew up in the 70's & 80's like me, you may remember the Mrs. Beasley doll:

She was my favorite toy as a young girl, and I dragged her everywhere!

My fellow Mrs. Beasley fans may get a kick out of her counterpart - MR. Beasley...

Special Times...

Dylan graduated from 6th grade this week. It was an exciting but emotional event. He's growing up so fast - and making us incredibly proud in the process! I was worried that the constant moving between classes might affect his grades, but he rose to the occasion! Not only did he maintain all A's & B's the entire year, but he was chosen out of the entire 6th grade to read an essay at graduation! Definitely a "proud mama" moment!

"New threads" for the 6th grade dance...


Reading his essay...


Receiving his diploma...


The "official certificate"...


His homeroom teacher...


Proud graduates...


Brady is busier than ever! He's non-stop...running, climbing, playing, babbling, and getting into things constantly. He is also super-interested in anything & EVERYTHING that Dylan does! Here he is, sporting his newest accessory - Dylan's wrist band, which he wears on his calf!

Baby Crud

Brady's been sick again! The poor kid (& his exhausted mother) can't seem to catch a break! It seems like he no sooner gets over one thing, and something else is cropping up! Since he was about 5 weeks old, he has had on-and-off bouts of coughing and congestion. I was initially told (when he was a newborn) that it was most likely because he was a c-section baby and had some fluid that wasn't expelled during the birth process. Hmmm...seemed a little "squirrely" to me, but hey - I'm not the dr. right? Ever since, they've chalked it up to either a cold or a virus! Finally, about a month ago, one of the dr's at the office we go to suggested that Brady have some allergy testing done. He said if the allergy tests were positive, he'd refer us to an allergist - if not, he'd refer us to an ENT specialist. His allergy tests came back negative, except for a mild allergy to peanuts and egg whites (which the dr. said was so mild that it wasn't a cause for concern). So, we've been referred to an ENT, and we'll see what happens with that! Last week, however, Brady came down with a high fever (104.2) out of the blue. He had no other symptoms but was clearly miserable. Off to the dr's we went - a total of 3 times in one week because they couldn't figure out what was going on, despite blood tests, cultures, and head-to-toe exams. I was beginning to panic, convinced that he had some life-threatening condition that the dr's were missing. After 3 days, the fever disappeared as quickly as it came...and he broke out in a rash. I immediately thought "chicken pox" - but the rash looked more like a heat rash than chicken pox blisters. After some online research of my own, and confirmation from a nurse-friend, we determined that he had Roseola. It took him almost a FULL WEEK to completely recover! He seems to be feeling much better, but I noticed the other day that the coughing and congestion seems to be coming back! Here we go again!!!

A couple pictures from the last few weeks:

Mother's Day...




Barbie & Ken... :-)


Dylan on the trampoline...

Bubble Butt...

Dance Party with Grandma & Auntie Ann

He's ready for the club with these moves!!! :-)

The Cleaning Man

Brady has become QUITE the little helper lately - and I promise that these photos are not staged! Whenever someone is doing a chore, he has to be right in the middle of the action. Now if I could just get some of it to rub off on Dylan!!!

Emptying trash (he usually dumps 1/2 of it on the floor but SOOO love the effort!)


Taking the can back...


Helping Auntie Ann take the trash out (he also insists on helping to roll the cans down to the curb)...


Loading the dryer...


Sweeping (we had to buy him his OWN broom)...


And yes, the little stinker is still throwing EVERYTHING away!

Updates!

Gosh, are we 1/2-way through April ALREADY? I have SOOOO much to update you on - and tons of pictures to share. I promise to try to be better about this blogging thing in the days to come and not go so long between posts!


First, let's start with Easter. We had a great day, and the kids really enjoyed coloring eggs, finding all the goodies in their Easter baskets, and the egg hunt in the back yard.


Coloring eggs...



Dylan with his basket...



Markers from the Easter Bunny...



Egg Hunting...

Brady "cooling off" in his new pool (we had to make the water like bathwater before he'd even get in) :-)


Next on the update list is vacation. We ended up not going to Destin after all. I just didn't feel like a 5-hr. car ride - or dealing with packed hotels and beaches. So we opted for Ocala instead. We rented a house on the water and spent our time at Silver Springs, Wild Waters, Carney Island State Park, shopping, and eating out. The house we rented was in the middle of NOWHERE and was a good 20 minutes from everything - but we enjoyed it nonetheless. It was equipped with a hot tub, tiki hut, pool, waterfall/koi pond, and putting green...so there was plenty to do when we didn't feel like driving somewhere. The kids had a great time, and the adults got some much-needed R&R!

On the putting green...

Fishing off the dock...

Trying on silly hats at Silver Springs...

On a ride at Silver Springs...

The splash park at Wild Waters...

All suited up to hit the wave pool...

The waterfall at the house...

Hangin' at Carney Island State Park...

Playing in the park...

Hiking with big bro...

See you later!!!

Since this post is pretty long, I'll save the rest of the updates & photos til next time!

Spring...

Hope you all like the new blog look...Easter's on the way! As much as I loved my snowman background, it was time for a "seasonal update." Temps are warming up, everything is in bloom, and the POLLEN is about to kill me! Nothing says "SPRING" like that ugly yellow powder, and the sound of everyone coughing, sneezing, and sniffling! Ahhhh, the joys...



I'm trying to plan a mini-vacay for the week of Dylan's Spring Break - yes, I've totally lost my mind (can you say, "worst possible time to plan a vacay???")! Not only will the beaches and theme parks be jammed with spring break-ers, but I'm sure everything will cost a small fortune. So far, Destin is the top choice...gorgeous white-sand beaches and plenty of recreational activities. I'm hoping that it won't be AS crowded as the normal s-break hotspots, but that's probably just wishful thinking on my part. We will probably come back from "vacation" needing a VACATION!!!

Dancin' Man

Sorry for the lapse in blogging - I just can't seem to keep up with everything lately. Before I know it, another week/month has gone by! I am amazed DAILY at the changes in Brady. As each week passes, he literally seems to be a different person...so much more grown-up than the week before! Absolutely fascinating, but sad at the same time. My baby is growing up much faster than I'm ready for! :-(

One of his new obsessions is cell phones...and don't think you can fool him with the plastic toy ones (or even a real one that isn't being used anymore)! He wants the real thing, in full working order. The lil bugger has even figured out how to navigate his way through my phone menu to find the ringtones! And here's what happens when he gets there:



His other new obsession is the TRASH! He is fascinated with throwing things into the kitchen trash can, no matter how important they may be to the rest of us - remote controls, socks, outlet covers, dishes and silverware, his toys, his bottles and pacifier, and just about anything else he can get his grubby little hands on!