1 year ago
Wow, it has been a long time since I have updated our blog. I was looking back through old posts and realized how much I love looking at all of the cute pictures and reading the funny stories. Frequently I thought about the fact that I hadn't updated the blog and I just dreaded taking time to sit down and write a new post. I don't want this blog to be something that I feel like I have to do, so I just kind of took a break.
What have we been up to? It seems like a lot! Summer is upon us and I am so excited for some warm weather and outdoor activities! Braeden's Kindergarten year is winding down and T-ball is gearing up. My office is sponsoring the team this year! Braeden is enjoying playing outside with the neighbor kids and is ready to be finished with homework and spelling words (although, he has not missed one word this entire year on his spelling tests-proud Mama!).
Right now Brenna's world is revolving around our upcoming trip to Disney World. She is INCREDIBLY excited!! I can see now why there are those commercials where the family doesn't tell the children that they are going to Disney World until the morning they leave! We talk about Disney World almost everyday! We discuss which Princesses will be there, how we get into Cinderella's Castle, will the The Beast be there (from Beauty and the Beast), are we going for her Birthday, will she be 4 years old yet when we go to Disney, will we see Mickey, how far away is it, are Grammy and Papa going, can we wear flip flops there, on and on and on...!!! I am glad that she is so excited, because it kind of makes me more excited. She seems like the perfect age to take this trip.
Just a quick little update post, but I've got chores to finish! Tonight Brenna has dance class and then we will get started dying Easter Eggs and getting the house ready for our big family dinner on Sunday.
Sorry for the blurry picture!
Last Sunday was Braeden's second and final wrestling tournament for the season. During this tournament he wrestled all four rounds no matter how many matches he won or lost, so we were there ALL DAY! Braeden won his first match...due to forfeit. The other wrestler did not show up.
His first match was the 7th overall match on his mat. HE DIDN'T WRESTLE AGAIN UNTIL MATCH 56!!! It seemed like forever and with all of that time on our hands, I think Braeden got uninterested and bored really fast. He was pinned on his second match in a matter of a few seconds!
Match 3 went a little better...still pinned, but he fought a little longer this time.
Finally, time for match 4(the last match). Ed was fed up with how the day was going and he really wanted to see him put forth some REAL effort and I know he would have loved to see a win. He promised Braeden he would buy him whatever he wanted if he won. I looked at Ed and said, "Are you really already to this point with wrestling?" Just a little note: Ed promised Braeden the same thing during football season and Braeden did so well after that. Ed doesn't care why he is doing well, as long as he is.
We sat in the same seats in the bleachers all day and the same family sat in front of us all day. Their son was actually the last person Braeden was to wrestle. The match went great! Braeden did great! Braeden did not win, but he also did not get pinned. It was decided by points and we were SO PROUD of him! He really tried his hardest.
After the tournament was over, we packed up all of our gear and were headed out to leave when I heard Ed and Braeden talking about the last child Braeden wrestled and how we never let anyone hit our Mommy. I looked at Ed like both of them were crazy and asked what in the world they were talking about. Nobody had hit me! Ed explained that before the last match, he had told Braeden that the boy that he was wrestling had been hitting his Mommy all day with a balloon and that when he gets out on that mat to hit him good, because nobody hits our Mommy! The child did have a balloon he was playing with, but it certainly never bothered me. ED LIED TO BRAEDEN TO GET HIM TO WIN!! He used Braeden's love and protective nature over me to do it! I was so absolutely appalled that all I could do was laugh. Dads, sports, winning, and their sons-a combination that I will never understand!! What can you do?!
This year for Valentine's Day I decided to make us a family dinner at home...a special family dinner! We ate in the dining room and I don't recall anytime when the children have been allowed to eat in the dining room. We broke out the china dinnerware, champagne glasses, and linen napkins. We went all out! Our menu included Caesar salad, chicken parmigiana with pasta, and dessert. We had two types of champagne-kid's champagne, as Braeden likes to call it, and Mommy and Daddy champagne. Ed even sprung for the $8 bottle this time!
I spent the morning making our Valentine's Day dessert. We had chocolate dipped strawberries and brownie pops. Very yummy!!
And after dinner, we opened presents! The kids LOVE presents! We have so much candy now that I have no idea what we are going to do with it all. Why do I buy it?...oh, because the stores package it so beautifully and it always appeals to my eyes! Who could pass up chocolates wrapped in pink foil, tied with a pink ribbon, who has a daughter who LOVES PINK!! I had to buy it all!
I know that I say this each year on my Valentine's Day blog, but I am gonna say it again this year and probably next year too-Valentine's Day is so SPECIAL to us because that is the day that we were able to bring Braeden home from the hospital after spending 5 weeks in the NICU. We felt so blessed that day. Love you, Braeden!
Brenna challenges me everyday-intentionally. You can see it in her face. She looks for a reaction. She tries to be as shocking as possible to me. She tries to get a rise out of me. She wants me to get upset. Notice I say, "me, me, me" in most of those statements because she treats Ed completely different. By now I have accepted her behavior towards me and can deal with it (even emotionally).
But...the other day, she said something that to me was very telling. I was watching a Lifetime movie (one of my favorite things to do!) and there was a woman crying. Brenna seemed very concerned about her and asked what was wrong. She said, "Mama, what is wrong with her? Why is she crying? Does she need her Mama?" DOES SHE NEED HER MAMA?? Why would she say that? Obviously she feels that her Mama is someone that can help her when she is upset and someone that she can turn to when there is a problem. I knew she loved me-deep down!
I know that this may seem like a harsh mother/daughter relationship to most reading this, but it is ours. We do have our good times too (a lot of them) and they are actually becoming more good times than bad. She has even started telling me that.."you (mama) are the best!" and I love to hear that. It seems that with each day, as she continues to get older, we continue to have a better relationship and she continues to develop more respect for me. I can only hope and pray that this continues.
My son is part of The CREW!!
I received a phone call this week from Braeden's teacher, Mrs. Munford. She told us that she had nominated Braeden for Student Leader at school and he would be recognized on Friday at a school assembly. She wanted to make sure that Ed and I were there to see it. This is his first "school recognition" and Ed and I were so proud of him!
At DRE (Delaware Ridge Elementary) they have a school assembly called Community Circle on Fridays(I think it is just once a month). Parents are welcome to attend. During this assembly teachers who have nominated students as Student Leaders are able to speak about the student and the student receives a red t-shirt that says, CREW on it.
Mrs. Munford said the nicest things about Braeden! She said he was a born leader and that he has learned to lead in a group setting without overpowering everyone else, which was one of his goals for the semester. Braeden is the first student that Mrs. Munford has nominated this year. We were so proud to see him go in front of the school and he was so excited!
Okay, the bragging is over.
Well, it has only taken me one full month to report on our Christmas events this year. Our family had a great Christmas. Always busy and stressful, but also filled with lots of fun and love. Our Christmas season started Thanksgiving weekend while Ed's sister, Katie, and her family were in town from Ohio. I know the kids thought it was very exciting to be able to open presents after Thanksgiving. 
Braeden and Brenna had a fun time decorating a gingerbread house. Those things are harder to do than you'd think!
This year was our last year to celebrate Christmas Eve at my Grandma's house. It is VERY sad to think about. We have always spent Christmas Eve night with all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins at my grandparent's house. We recently moved my Grandma to an assisted living home, so we will not be able to all gather at her house anymore for holidays. Just another thing about getting older...CHANGE. I can do without so much change. I like things to stay the way they are.
Brenna was happy to wake up Christmas morning to something she was really excited for Santa to bring her...a dollhouse!! (Santa did bring her Cinnamon Toast Crunch as well!!)
Braeden was very excited to be surrounded by so many presents to open! Santa brought him a Nintendo DS and Big Foot. We have already had to put a daily time limit on our Nintendo use...it was kind of getting out of control!
Of course, we cannot forget that Christmas Day is not only Jesus' birthday, but Ed's as well. He requested red velvet cupcakes for his big day. Brenna and I had a good time making them together.
Christmas was followed by New Years Eve and we actually got all dressed up and went out this year. I totally went all out and bought the "sparkly" shirt and even glued on the fake eyelashes! We had a good time that night, but OMG we are old because it took like a full day to recover from all of the "fun"!!
My Aunt Terry watched the kiddos that night and believe me, they had a great time!! Braeden and Brenna are lucky to have her. She spoils them and makes sure they always have a good time, just like she did for me and my cousins when we were younger!
Right after New Years is Braeden's birthday. He turned 6 years old this year! Where does the time go? He is getting so big. I love him so much!
His first wrestling match was the morning of his birthday, so by the point this picture was taken, he was already in his PJ's. It had been a LONG day for him and me! He enjoyed having his grandparents, Aunt Lala, Uncle James, and cousin Carson over for pizza and cake.
The evening before his birthday, Braeden invited some friends to the movies to see Yogi Bear. We started with an ice cream sundae party, followed by popcorn, fruit snacks, and pop. You parents can thank me for the tummy aches later!
As I mentioned before, Braeden's first wrestling match was on his birthday. Being the first match, he did not know what to expect and neither did I. All I'm going to say is, I got scolded not once, but twice from my husband for "being embarrassing and treating our son like a baby"-exact Ed quote. As a mother, when you see your son getting tackled and smothered by another child(I know, this is what wrestling is) and he is crying, all I want to do is give him big hugs and tell him everything is okay, so that is what I did. Oh, I guess I did pick him up and carry him up into the bleachers to tell him it is all okay and Mommy is here. :)
My son is a caring, loving, emotional child and I'm not sure that this wrestling thing is for him. I do think we are going to stick with it and see where it goes. It might just be what he needs to toughen up. Ed did decide that he was going to make sure he got a little more practice under his belt before we send him out for another tournament. I will have to say that he did improve a lot from his first match to his second. He did lose both, but he scored 6 points in the second match(not like I even know what that means). Ed and I were really proud of him. He didn't quit and you could tell he gave it all he had!
That was quite a quick recap of our holiday! I hope 2011 has a lot of exciting things in store for us. Since Christmas is over, all I hear about now is our trip to Disney World. That is the next thing the kiddos are looking forward to!
Brenna(talking to me): If you ever fall down the stairs, I will call 911.
Me: That sounds like a good thing to do in case there is an emergency.
Brenna: ...or I could call Daddy at work. ...or I could call the Doodlebops.
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