Best Friends

I have said this so often lately, it's becoming a bit cliche, but I will say it again...we have the BEST friends in the world. We really do.

Most of our friends are from high school, or we know them because of friends from high school. We have known them for what seems like forever, and it's just amazing the way we've stayed close through college, marriages, babies, etc.

One of the guys in the group started a thing called "dinner night" a few years back where we all get together once a month. This has been a great way to keep us all in contact as our lives get busier and busier.

However, lately we've all been together more and more. My "best friends in the world phrase" probably started with the "Family Dance" at my preschool. Would you believe that a large portion of this group of friends gave up a Saturday night to tend bar, DJ, take money and just generally help at a dance for little kids?! And did I mention that none of them have kids?! It was truly amazing to me and a true tribute to how great these people are. Father Jeff even commented on how tightly knit we all are.

Then we decided to try to sell our house. Our friends were over night after night-plumbing, dry walling, laying flooring, Brian chasing, etc.

This past week, once again, was testament to my "best friends in the world" line. Within minutes of letting one friend know about granddad's passing I had a phone call from another. They all called throughout the week to offer support. Some visited. Some baked. Those who could make it came to the visitation. Stayed for the funeral. And then came back to mom's after to show their love and support.

One of the best parts about all of this that not only do Shawn and I get the benefit of having these wonderful people in our lives, but so does Brian. He has so many wonderful role models within our group of friends. So many people who will love and support him as he grows.

So thank you friends, you know who you are. You truly are the best friends in the world!

(P.S. One more friend who doesn't happen to be a part of this particular group showed her support and love this week as well. This particular friend drove all the way from Danville to be at the funeral. Crazy woman, I love you and you also know who you are!! We are truly blessed to have you in our lives.)

Big Cousins

With the funeral this week, came the family from out of town. Brian had a blast playing with his big cousins-Chris, Andrew and Joe. I think it's safe to say that they enjoyed him too :) They were so good with him and got him totally wound up!!


After they headed back home, Brian took a two hour nap. This is the pathetic wee one after he woke up. Still totally worn out. Almost too worn out to enjoy the chocolate milkshake Nana got him from Graeters. And that's saying something!

Risky Business

Channeling Tom Cruise, the early years.

Sleeping in

Brian keeps ending up in our bed. I know it's bad...but at a certain point the parents just have to get sleep. Anywho, he has had some trouble waking up for the past few weeks. Poor little guy is so active that he just wears himself out! Here are my two boys snoozing together.


After this shot was taken and Shawn got up, I actually stripped the child in attempt to wake him. Instead of waking, he rolled over, stuck his rear in the air and curled up in a ball. I guess he was cold seeing as he was just wearing a diaper. I should have kept taking pictures!

In A Parking Garage

Today in a parking garage, Nana was waiting for a spot. Another car pulled up and was daring to take that spot. Nana said, "You better not take my spot, I'll get out and kick your ass."

As if to prove that he repeats EVERYTHING, Brian chimed in from the back seat, "KICK IT, KICK IT!"

Gotta love the parrot stage. At least he gave it his own twist and didn't repeat the last word :)

Granddad's Obit

To view Granddad's obituary click here.

21 Months Today!

Brian is 21 months old today. This morning Shawn asked him how old he is and I said, "one," expecting him to repeat. He belted out "two!" He has no idea how close he is!! I think he thought we were practicing counting actually :) He gets to four on his own pretty well!

My new favorite word that he says is "bubbles." He demands these at bath time. He kind of pauses between syllables and it's really cute! I also love singing the "Nose" song with him! He sings the "whoa" part perfectly and he knows he's being cute when he does it!

He can repeat pretty much any word now and comes up with a lot of his own. Shawn estimates that he has a 180 word vocabulary. I think that's a bit much, but he certainly has a big one!

Here are the 20 month pictures.

Also, for those of you who are waiting on details for Granddad's service, so are we! It's kind of a mess trying to deal with the Puerto Rican rules. We will let everyone know the arrangements when we know! Stupid territory.

Bob

"Bob" was one of Brian's first words. Bob was my granddad, Brian's great grandfather. Bob loved Brian and Brian loved Bob. Bob passed away this morning. He was in Puerto Rico vacationing with my aunt, uncle and baby cousins-Chris, Andrew and Joe. He had become quite the world traveler since my grandmother's death. This was his second tropical destination. He joined them in Hawaii last summer.

What a way to go! In your sleep and in a tropical paradise :) We will miss him dearly, but are so happy for the years we had with him. Grandma's birthday would have been this week. Now they can celebrate together.

We love you, Bob!

Emanu

Last night our dinner night group tried an Ethiopian restaurant called Emanu. I liked Shawn's food better than my own, but mine was okay too :) Brian really enjoyed Shawn's dinner (and Shawn liked it too). Here are some pics.

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Straws are fun for kids of all ages!

My "picky" kid eating Ethiopian Food.

Back to the Zoo!

We have really been enjoying this great weather lately! Wednesday we went on a long walk and to the park, Thursday we went to the Zoo for the first time this season, and Friday we spent time planting some spring flowers!

Here's what the bonobos thought of Brian...
Here are some pics of my little man playing in the yard and on the front porch...

Thank goodness for good neighbors!

I actually wanted to title this post, "I hate you, Joe Biden," but I was afraid the government would start tracking me as a terrorist. I don't actually hate Mr. Biden, but I am incredibly frustrated with his presence in the Cincinnati Area today. Why? Because if he were not in town, the cops would not have been out in mass force blocked all expressway entrances as I drove back from Covington. And if I had been able to take my normal route home, Brian would have puked at home instead of in my car.

HOWEVER, since Joe IS in town, and the entrances to all major expressways ARE blocked, I just spent a significant amount of time attempting to clean the peach yogurt puke smell out of my car.

Instead, I titled this post, "Thank goodness for good neighbors." We are very blessed to have awesome, helpful neighbors (one of the many reasons I will miss this place if we do manage to sell the house). In fact, one of them came up the street and watched Brian for me so I could de-puke my car. And the car seat.

Of course first I stripped the boy. And put his vomit covered clothes straight into the washing machine. And then bathed the boy. Then I frantically called the neighbor who came right up.

Do you know how much puke can come out of a 20 month old? A lot. A really lot. And do you know how freaking impossible it is to take apart a car seat and de-puke it? It's hard. Very hard. I am not sure it will ever be the same. I'm serious. We may need to replace it. I still smell puke. In fact, I think I am going to have to change clothes because as I write this I am convinced that I smell like puke. Perhaps it's just stuck in my nose? Either way I am going to change clothes. And not go anywhere. Because I can't. The expressways are blocked and the car seat is soaked.

Ah the joy!

Jesus

My kid says "Jesus." And "Mary." He actually kisses a statue of Mary every time we go up on the altar at St. Patrick's Church. He has also sat in the adoration chapel with me the last two days while I prayed my St. Joseph prayer. His little legs don't even hang over the edge of the chair, but he sits there quietly memorized by the stained glass window. He points to it and says "Jesus."

Sure he also plays in the fountain containing holy water and runs like a terror across the pew benches.

But he knows when to be silent and even at 20 months old he understands reverence. He is such a blessing and a joy!

Spring?

Has spring arrived? I think so. My bulbs are coming up! The sun has shone for the past three days. It will start raining soon and is supposed to rain for several days, but rain is also part of spring.

I LOVE spring!

Yesterday was a wonderful treat. The mom of the kids that I babysit for forgot to tell me that the kids all had sports practice. So I didn't have to work. I love the kids, but with the sunshine and the 65 degree temps, I loved being off work more :) Brian and I got ice cream. We both had chocolate. He was confused by the cup and spoon. I should have gotten him a cone. He ate his chocolate ice cream like a dog. It was very messy. But he had fun :)

Then we went to the park. We met my friend Ellie and her three kids. I got to hold the new baby. She has the cutest squishy cheeks. I heart them :)

We had a great time at the park. Brian loves to swing and he loves to slide. We wore each other out! It was so great to be outside in the sunshine!! I am looking forward to more days at the park and more time outside.

Stay here spring!

Busy

Here's why we've been so busy...


And, no I'm not pregnant. We just need a bigger house. Brian has taken over. And with the tax credit ending soon, we thought we'd better try now. Wish us luck!!

Sharing

We are trying to teach Brian to share. This was a grand effort on my part. He is one of the few people on the planet I would share a chocolate milkshake with :)

20 Months Old

Here are Brian's 19 month pictures! Finally :) He's only been 20 months since Wednesday, but this is pretty late for me.

Brian is so much fun these days! He's talking more each day and it's funny to listen to him. Some new words and phrases: "At" (Matt), "Nannon" (Shannon), chicken (only once, but very, very clear), "Where's my dada?", "Where's Nannon?", "poon" (spoon), "ah sauce" (apple sauce), "bebe" (baby-not really new, but he says it all the time and I LOVE the way he says it!), "Where's the bebe?", "a-ter" (water, formerly "wawa." He says this all the time and drinks is ALL the time!), "cheese"... I know there are more, but these are the most consistent at the moment.

As you saw in the previous post, we have moved into a toddler bed. And no, Jenna, there were not injuries involved in the escape from the crib. However, in effort to prevent injuries, we made the switch right away. Brian was pretty excited. He especially likes that Mommy can get in the bed now too!

And, we had two major explosions in one day last week. The first was a poop explosion. I did not realize I was changing a poopy diaper (don't even know when he did it!) and so I pull the diaper out really fast from under his rear end. The result? Poop flying everywhere. Gotta love it. Later than day I was cooking dinner and Brian was playing with some coins he had found on the table. He kept running in and out of the kitchen with them. When they disappeared I assumed he had put them in his bank. Then I noticed his chipmunk cheeks. I quickly squeezed the cheeks, and POP! out came the coins. Loved that too. I retrieved his bank, settled him on the floor and he spent the rest of dinner making time happily putting them into his bank instead of his mouth. Much better.

That's the Brian update for now. More on why we have been so busy later.