3 Months

3 months - really - already?!

I can't believe our little Brady bear is getting so big and isn't quite a "newborn" anymore! Our lives have definitely been hectic and crazy with an "almost" 3 year old and a 3 month old but we are loving and savoring every moment. Craig and I are a good tag team every night trying to manage both boys!

Chase still adores Brady and kisses him and talks to him every chance he gets. If Brady cries at all, Chase says "It's OK Brady, you're alright Brady." So cute - I am so happy I have 2 little boys that will hopefully be best buds in the future.

Brady has been growing at rapid pace and I almost fall over some mornings when he fits quite nicely into a 6 month outfit - aahh!!! Baby clothes are so random though and in some brands he is wearing 3 months but one shirt I have is seriously 9 months and it fits him!

Brady smiles like crazy but we haven't gotten any giggles yet - can't wait to hear those for the first time :) He is super strong and squirmy and always wants to be moving.

He is on and off with sleep patterns, some nights he wakes up twice to eat, some times once and last night he slept through the night..still kind of all over the place. He is still in the bassinett next to our bed - I'm not quite ready to move him yet.

He is still a super easygoing baby and rarely cries or fusses. He loves to be held and see what is going on with everyone around him. The one thing he hates is getting in the carseat - yikes it's not so fun for him!

We love you Brady bear and 2011 has been such an amazing adventure for our family so far!!

Children's Museum - aka - "Music Box"

Sunday we decided to take Chase to the Denver Children's Museum. For some unknown reason Chase kept calling it the "Music Box?!" I have no idea why because usually when he makes up names for things there is actually some sense or a story behind it. I still can't figure out the music box reference but at least he "had fun at the music box" as he says!

I had taken him here one other time on his 2nd birthday with my Mom & Dad but Craig had never been before. We spent about 2 1/2 hours going to all the different stations and also going to storytime to hear 3 books read out loud. Chase was a little reserved and an observer at first but then he dove right in and had a great time. The only bummer was the grocery store area where you shop and can bake pizzas and stuff was being renovated. I had been talking it up in the car the whole way there so my heart sank when I saw it was closed and was being renovated. Chase kept asking to go to the grocery store - yikes! Thank goodness since it is such a popular attraction they made a little make shift store in another area, but it wasn't quite the same as what they usually have. Oh well - next time! We still had fun running from area to area and watching Chase's imagination at work!

Painting some masterpieces



Construction Area - this station actually kind of freaked me out because you sit down and build stuff out of recycled products (paper towel rolls, milk jugs, wood, etc) but you use real tools including a REAL saw! It was a dull saw and ages taddler and up were using them. Yes I know the parents were there supervising but how in the world has no one ever gotten hurt and has there never been a lawsuit - ha ha! We banned the use of the saw but Chase still loved using the screwdriver and pliers :)



Bubble Room - I wish I would have gotten more pictures in here because Chase loved making bubbles in all the different stations. We did get one photo of Chase & I in the giant bubble where it surrounds you with "bubble walls" - very cool!


Dressing up like a duck


The fire engine - Chase's favorite part. We had to keep going back 3 times! I don't think there is anything cuter than little kids dressed up as fire fighters :)

Hitting the "gym"

Chase has been doing gymnastics for the last 4 weeks every Tuesday morning with his cousins Ashlyn & Marae. He LOVES it and has so much fun when we go! They always start with stretches and songs, then they do an obstacle course and then they either do balance beams or bars and then end by jumping on the trampoline and his favorite...jumping in the foam pit!

Rolling around pretending to be crayons - part of the warm up :)


Hopping like a bunny (a bit blurry!)


Walking like a monkey with Ashlyn and Aunt Jill


Miss Rachel helping Chase with part of the obstacle course



Ashlyn & Chase - I love this picture!


Look at those gymnastics skills :)


Into the foam pit!


Having a blast on the trampoline...


The class ends with all the kids getting stamps on their hands, feet and bellies if they want (Chase loves the belly one) and they sing a goodbye song to each kid. Chase gets so excited when it is time for stamps!




And what was Brady doing this whole time? Don't worry we didn't forget about him... Lots of attention from Marae and Grandma!

Brady Day!

When Brady was born Craig received 3 paid days off of paternity leave from his company but he only used 2 of them so he could save one for a rainy day. Well, since my maternity leave is ending and I have to go back to work Thursday, we decided to have a Mommy/Daddy/Brady day to spend some quality time with just the 3 of us.

I love Brady to death but often feel guilty because he doesn't get our undivided attention like Chase did as a baby. I now completely understand why most parents have a great baby book for their first child and maybe a couple pictures thrown in a book for number 2, 3, etc... (Thank goodness I have the blog) It is such a different experience this time around because we want to enjoy and marvel in every second of Brady's life yet we have an almost 3 year old who constantly demands to be played with, cleaned up after, fed, bathed, and chased all day in general :) Brady is the mellowist baby ever so he goes with the flow but I always feel like he is getting the short end of the stick as we tend to Chase's daily agenda. I know this is just an adjustment of becoming a family, and the guilt is probably normal trying to balance everything, but Craig and I wanted to have a chance to just spend some quality time with out newest little man.

Thus the need for our Mommy/Daddy/Brady day! Craig dropped Chase off at daycare in the morning and got some Starbuck's for us on the way home - yay such a treat! We spent the morning getting stuff done around the house while being able to play with Brady on the floor and get lots of smiles out of him. We made our way downtown for lunch and took full advantage of the goegeous weather and sat on the patio of Rock Bottom Brewery on 16th street mall. It was a perfect 2 hours of talking to my hubby, taking turns holding and loving on Brady, people watching and a good lunch for once (most days I get a pb & j, popcorn or something else quick and random that I can grab out of the fridge!)

We loved spending a day with just Brady and have decided we will have to do that every once and awhile with both kids...Daddy day with Chase, Mommy day with Chase, Daddy day with Brady, Mommy day with Brady...

Here are a couple pics of us with Brady in downtown Denver!




We love being a family and are starting to get this balance thing figured out :)

Dinner Date

Last Friday night we had dinner at Brett & Mary's house so we could catch up and let the kids play together! We always have a great time together and it is always fun watching Chase & Blake interact as they get older and older. Unfortunately Chase was super tired because we were up later than usual the night before for St Patty's Day but we still managed to spend a few memorable hours together.

Chase, Blake & Abby having some dinner together


Brett holding Brady (Abby is almost a year old already so he needed some more baby time! )



Daddy with Brady


Chase & Blake playing Ele-fun! You have to catch butterflys in a net as they fly out the elephant's trunk...




Abby watching the boys act crazy!


Mary putting Brady to sleep


Movie Time! Watching Toy Story 3 while each holding Woody & Buzz Lightyear - so cute :)


Pajama Twins


What a fun night for the kiddos and for us!

Got It!!

It took a lot of hard work and timing but.... I GOT IT!!

St Patty's Day!

I love St. Patrick's Day! There is no stress of buying gifts for anyone, no drama, just drinking. Really - how did one holiday become known for purely getting drunk and everyone pretending they are Irish - not sure but it's fun to celebrate :)

I had both boys home with me so we got dressed in our green and headed out in the morning to go play at Monkey Bizness and ride the train at the outdoor mall by our house. Chase LOVES Monkey Bizness and it is an easy way for me to watch both kids! Brady slept most of the time (what a surprise - ha ha) and Chase ran around going down slides, climbing, doing art, bouncing in the bounce house, you name it...







I have no pictures with me in it because I always take them - so thus we had to go with a self portrait!


Sleeping - so peaceful...


Wait! He's awake!! Hi Brady Bear!


After a few hours playing Chase saw the train go by so of course we couldn't leave without a ride. We bought our tickets and took a private ride on the choo choo train (there weren't too many people out so we got it all to ourselves!)

Waiting patiently for the train to come around again


So excited to be on the train!


We headed home and Chase took a nap while Brady and I spent a few hours playing and snuggling together. I enjoyed a nice Guiness while watching some March Madness as well! (See what I mean - any other day having a beer in the middle of the day while home alone with the kids would sound crazy, BUT when it's St Patty's Day and a Guiness it just sounds normal!)



More self portraits :)
Awake....


And asleep...


That night we were invited over to the house of one of the girl's from Chase's class. They only live about 1 mile from us so we headed over for food and green beer! They actually had a kegerator and had a keg hooked up that was pumping out green beer - I didn't even know you could buy it like that - awesome :) The kids had a ton of fun running around together and destroying Jenny & Mike's house one room at a time - ha ha. The parents had a ton of fun too getting to know eachother and having a lot of laughs. The craziest thing I am discovering as we meet new people is how small a world it really is. From the couples there last night, some of them were at CSU the same time as Craig & I, Craig knew a ton of the same people as others from high school and from baseball...it's just funny how it really is 6 degrees of seperation :) I didn't take any pictures but what a fun way to celebrate St. Patty's Day!

Till next year....