North GA State Fair

Saturday morning we took the kids to the fair! The weather was so perfect and we all had a really good time. I wasn't feeling so good, so didn't take many pictures. Two chili/cheese/slaw dogs may have been a bit much for me. Ha! Like that is ever a good idea.

Saturday was "ride a ride, bring a friend free" day... perfect when you have two boys!

Here they are on the obstacle course (the two leading the way)

and on the roller coaster... second row from the back.
Oh, and Lyla was there too! :) She was her usual quiet observant self. We laughed about how she didn't make a single sound the whole time we were there. She did smile a lot though, so we're pretty sure she had a good time.

Brock

Brock = hilarious. Sometimes I feel bad for Brodey because Brock probably should be punished more often for pestering, but he's not because we find him just so funny. For example, Brodey can't stand useless noise, like tapping or clicking. Brock knows this so every day (every day) when we pick Brodey up from school as soon as Brodey gets in the car Brock will tap on Lyla's car seat to irritate Brodey. EVERY. DAY. I try to make him stop... what to do about that??? Anyhow.. Jeff and I are both the younger sibling.. and we both liked to pester, so sometimes we can't help but to laugh at him. Before we break up a fight between these two we are almost always certain it was Brock who started it. Thankfully Brodey tends to be a patient kid and can handle his little stinker brother... and they are still best buddies!

We sat outside for a little while the other night and I got some cute pictures of them playing. We call this Brock's pop-eye face. And yes, we are now in a "no shirt" phase. Fine with me... less laundry than the 6 shirts a day phase.

Jeff... working.The boys made up a game... I didn't really understand it... something about chasing a pretend dog and a hot dog stand. This is Brodey carrying hot dogs from the neighbors mailbox back to his moving truck. (????)

Then they played in Jeff's truck. I looked up from playing with Lyla and caught this shot of Brock. He has a cone on his head BECAUSE he is Brock.

More fun things about Brock: he calls Lyla "Yo-Yo" and me "Mum-O", always Mum-O. He hardly eats anything. Ever. If it weren't for peanut butter I don't know how he would survive. He got a flu shot last week and growled at the nurse. Guess that's better than crying! He has a very active imagination... we love to listen to him talk to himself or to his toys, very entertaining. If ever there is a lull in a conversation he will spout out: "I like the circus. And the beach. AND the fireworks." He's said that at several random times and it's always funny. He knows all his colors and letters but has absolutely no interest in coloring or learning to write. I can't even get him to hold a crayon the right way. He's a fun kid. We love him.

Brodey

I haven't written a post about Brodey in awhile... and he's growing up so fast! He's almost 5! He is liking school... he works very hard on his school work. Almost everyday he comes home and wants to color and practice writing things. We are impressed with how well he colors and think he has really nice handwriting for an almost 5 year old. Not that we have anything to compare it to... but it looks nice to us!
He has a great memory and learns things really fast. I showed him one time how to write his friend Logan's name and weeks later he sat down and wrote it out again with out any reminders! He can also spell Brock's name.
He is doing really well with "math readiness" at school too. He has come home with several "great job" stickers on his work and his teacher tells me he really works hard and concentrates well at school. Such a little student!
He is great big brother. Brock sometimes drives him a little crazy, but he handles him well. ha!

Party of 6

That's right! We're having another baby! We found out on July 28, 2009 but waited until now to commit it to the blog just in case it was a mistake. Which we thought it might be considering we were not planning on having another baby. Turns out, pregnancy tests don't turn positive by mistake! But, after one ultrasound, LOTS of throwing up and hearing the heartbeat today... I'm starting to believe that it really is a baby. We are embracing the craziness of 4 kids in 5 years and can't wait to meet baby number 4! Let's hear it for the BIG families!!

At the doctor

Lyla had her 1 year well check on Monday, here are her stats:

Weight: 20 lbs 1 oz (30th %tile)

Height: 30 in (just above the 75th %tile)

Brodey at age 1

Weight: 24 lbs 4 oz

Height: 31 1/4 inches

Brock at age 1

Weight: 22 lbs 4 oz

Height: 30 1/2 inches

I asked about her being in such a low percentile for weight and she said most babies "reset" themselves into a new percentile around 9 months and then pretty much continue through childhood in that percentile. I was surprised by her weight considering how MUCH SHE EATS. It's really very shocking. She must have a pretty quick metabolism.

She is doing great learning new skills.... has been using a sippy cup for at least a month and feeding herself for a very long time. Independent little thing. She absolutely will not let me feed her anything on a spoon or fork. Meals are messy around here. She is trying more and more to walk... although I feel like she is still very much a baby and not ready for walking!! So weird how fast a year passes.

We still call her "Lyla Beans". Brock calls her "yo-yo"... we don't know why. She is still very sweet and quiet. She's so quiet it's almost like she is shy, but she's not. She'll let anyone hold her and is very fond of snuggling into the chest and face of anyone who will let her. Really, if you have not been snuggled by Lyla, you are missing out. We love her.

Happy Birthday Lyla!!

One whole year old! Several times over the past year I have held her up in the air and shouted: "IT'S A GIRL!!!!!" reliving the absolute happiest most surprising moment of my life. And she continues to bring so much happiness to our lives. Sweet Lyla.

Here she is in her birthday outfit... I intended to make her a birthday dress... but never got around to it, so we went with her tutu from Megan and a t-shirt I made her the day before. (I'll do better next year Lyla!)

I love this tutu.. and so does she, she giggled at it all day!

The boys helped her with her gifts... she wasn't really into that part.

She WAS into her cupcake. No surprise there, girl likes to eat. She loved it when we all sang to her, so cute smiling at everyone. I would post the video if it wasn't so ridiculously long.

We had a fun day with the birthday girl. She gets sweeter and cuter and smarter everyday. She is starting to like to walk along furniture and loves to march around holding our hands. She finally got two more teeth bringing her total to four. She says mama, da-dee, dog (her favorite word... sound more like "gog", she says it a lot).

She is also very into hair accessories. So cute! If she sees something on the floor that might look like a bow or a headband, she tries and tries to get it to stay on her head. I love baby girls!

5 day a week preschool

I've wondered how this day was going to go. 1st day of 5-day-a-week preschool. Big time. We have been talking about school for a couple of weeks trying to get him excited... he wasn't buying it. Which surprised me because he LOVED school last year. Even the night before he was saying he wanted to stay home with mommy. However the morning of the big day he was a whole new kid! Couldn't wait for school! I mentioned at 8:04am that today was the big day, and by 8:07am he was done with breakfast, dressed, shoes on, teeth brushed and ready to go! Then for the next 40 minutes he asked me repeatedly "Is it time to go yet??".

I did not intend to post ALL of these pictures... but they are so funny to me. I especially love Brock's expression...

On the way to school I hear Brodey say under his breath "I can't wait to get to school!". At his school they encourage parents to go through the car pool line.... but this was the first day! I was walking him in whether they liked it or not. Here he is waiting outside....

Such a big boy now!

We (me, Brock and Lyla) walked him to his classroom and he marched right in, put his folder in the basket and his bag in his cubby and got right to work. His teacher made him come back and give me a hug. I think she could tell I wasn't leaving without one. When he hugged me he said "I love you sooooo much mom." I cried. He laughed and went right back to work.

And then Brock was mad he didn't get to stay.

But we made it. It was a good day. He was all smiles when we picked him up and even complained he didn't get to stay very long. I asked who he played with... he didn't know. So I started naming some of the kids in his class, I named a couple of girls and he says:

"mom. I don't play with the girls."

Me: "why"

him: "I don't like girls. well... I like Lyla beans... but not big girls. They don't play fun like the boys."