Grandma's Birthday Part 2

Monday, June 17, was Grandma's actual birthday.  The only person in the world I know who might love baseball more than Ryan does, is my grandma.  So she wanted to celebrate her 80th birthday at a Diamondbacks game with as much family as we could gather.  Twenty-five of us went to the game together. It was the perfect temperature- because the field is covered and climate controlled most of the season- and we had "all you can eat seats", so we had a never-ending supply of hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, chips, soda and water.  We loved it.

Grandma opened presents- an iPad from her kids and a photo book from her grand and great-grandkids.

The great-grandkids ready for the game (Mollie had Diamondback hats for all of the little ones- so cute!)

Anderson was fading fast.  He was very comfortable snuggled with Grandma, Grandpa, and Great-grandma.  He never could fall asleep during the game, so Mom and I left with the boys after the fourth inning.  Notice Anderson holding on to Great-Grandma. 

Sisters and the chunky monkey!

We said this should be Brady's Facebook profile pic. :)

Look how cute the two littlest guys are!  It won't be long before these two chubby little brothers won't be able to squeeze into one seat.

However... backing up to Monday morning, Anderson and my mom went out to a playground to play with Liam and Sarah.  My mom said he seemed to feel a little off, so we took his temperature.  Sure enough, he had a fever over 102. :-(  The boys and I stayed in for the day instead of going to the pool.  My mom spent most of the day with us (the guys had gone golfing.)  Anderson really never did rebound to his normal happy, funny self during the trip.  Monday- Wednesday he seemed to feel pretty bad.  And our normally excellent sleeper was suddenly up, uncomfortable, crying, off and on all night.  We tried letting him sleep in bed with us, but he's not used to it, and ended up very restless and seemed uncomfortable, even though he was very happy to be cuddling with Mommy (me too!).  Brady woke up in my parents' room a couple of mornings because I was worried Anderson wasn't letting him get any sleep, either.  Both boys had a pretty deep cough and runny noses.  Tuesday morning I took the boys to a local walk-in/ urgent care clinic.  The very nice doctor said it was just a cruddy virus they probably picked up on the plane.  Tylenol and Motrin for Anderson to try to keep him comfortable.  

Waiting room

Finally by Thursday morning, Anderson seemed to be feeling better.  He got to play with Tyra, Michael, and Colton before they all headed off.  He loved all three of them.  He very happily called "T-T" by name.  He decided Michael was very good at reading, and asked him to read "My Friend Is Sad" and "Little Blue Truck" over and over.  And he thought Colton was hilarious.

Coco :)

Snacking and reading with Great-Grandma... starting to feel better!

Brady making faces with Uncle Mike

Here are a couple of random but cute bathtime pictures from the trip...

TIGHT squeeze!

Jacuzzi tub

Wednesday we had dinner with my Uncle Jon and Aunt Lori.  Anderson did his best, but dinner did not go all that well.  Ryan and I ended up taking turns in the van with Anderson; he was coughing and sick and was much more comfortable in the van.  Then Thursday we got up and went to a tour of the Cardinal's stadium.  I think Ryan liked the tour, which was good, because I certainly do love Ryan.  And I will suffer through even the most boring tour by the most boring tour guide on Earth for him, as I proved Thursday (my mom, Anderson, and Brady obviously love Ryan enough to do the same!)

Brady couldn't take it anymore- he fell asleep.  Come to think of it, Anderson fell asleep (in my arms) about 45-minutes into the tour.

It takes about an hour and a half to roll the actual field into the stadium before every game.  This is the only stadium that rolls their grass in and out, which was kinda cool.

My dad and Grandma Bonda picked us up, and we went to lunch.  After lunch, we headed over to my Grandma Bonda's house for some visiting.  She really enjoyed the extra time with her great grandsons.

Anderson loves his grandpa (and look- Hawaiian shirt day!)

Three generations

That evening, my parents met my Uncle Jim and Aunt Terri for dinner.  Ryan, the boys, Grandma, Mike and Trudi (by now the only family still at the resort) played and ordered dinner at the pool.  The resort (The Sheraton Desert Oasis, for anyone who wants to go to Phoenix) had the best food.  Their barbeque sandwich rocked my world, and Anderson and I shared a yummy flat bread pizza Thursday night.  Anyways, it was a really nice way to finish the trip.

Anderson loved the splash zone!

Brady is such a happy guy- note to self: be better at getting smiley pictures.

Brady and Great-Grandma

Nothing like poolside snuggles

Friday we spent allll day travelling.

Anderson fueled up for the big travelling day with his own (small) (decaffeinated) vanilla Frappaccino.  He loved it.  

The flight was fine- with the time change, we left around 2:30 and landed around 10:00.  Then we had to get to our cars (Park N Fly) and drive home from Baltimore.  Traffic on I-95 was ridiculous!  Because of construction, we were stuck- at a stand still- on 95 for an hour and a half.  No moving.  People out of their cars.  Me whining and borderline freaking out.  Brady screaming... then Anderson crying... then Brady screaming some more.  Finally we pulled into our driveway around 3:00am.  If this wasn't crazy enough, Ryan was waking up the next morning to be at the church by 6:00 for another Saints softball event.  The boys and I, on the other hand, slept in until 11:15 (Brady did wake up to eat around 8:00.)  We had such a fun trip, but were all very happy to be HOME! :)

Celebrating Grandma's 80th Birthday Part 1

This past week the four of us, plus my Mom and Dad and Lauren, flew to Phoenix to celebrate my grandma's 80th birthday.  The trip had all of the makings of the perfect vacation- and it really was wonderful- but we had some ups and downs!

Most importantly, we got to be with a lot of my Bradley family to celebrate Grandma.  And we all stayed safe and sound.  And we're home now. :)

Our trip started Friday, June 14.  This was also my last day of school, so it was a whirlwind!  Once Dad and I had brought one more load of "stuff" home from my classroom, we pretty much grabbed Sadie and the boys and headed to the Dude Ranch, then to Baltimore.  On the way to Baltimore, we stopped in Alexandria, VA to see Lauren and Kyle's new apartment.  It is beautiful and perfect for the two of them.  You cannot tell they just moved in at all; can't wait to go back and spend more time with them in DC.

After staying the night in Baltimore (Ryan drove in after midnight to join us- Saints basketball event after work Friday), we caught a direct flight to Phoenix Saturday around noon.   I cannot imagine flying with the two boys just Ryan and I- let alone by myself!  Our ratio of 5 adults to 2 babies seemed about right. 

The boys did really well on the plane- very minimal fussing, but not a lot of sleeping, either.  Mom and Lauren kept Anderson entertained for the majority of the trip.  Ryan and I had Brady so that I could feed him as needed.  We traded boys during the flight for a while, too.  

It took us most of the day to get to Phoenix, get two rental cars, and get all 10 pieces of luggage to the resort in Scottsdale.  The resort was beautiful; Ryan and I would love to take the boys back when they are older (9 and 10 maybe?) so we can enjoy the resort but do some hiking/ sightseeing in the area, too.

Courtyard 

I could barely notice the beautiful resort at first, however, because Brady had reached a whole new level of tired/ stressed-out.  He was SCREAMING once we got to the resort.  Quite the first impression for meeting so many of his relatives!

After feeding and swaddling Brady, we were fit to socialize.  There is a three hour time change, so it was about 10 pm by now for all of us east coasters.  Anderson and Liam had fun playing together; Liam can suddenly talk like a kindergartener!  When we got there, Liam said "Put him down" so he could play with Anderson.  Ha :)  The boys ran around the Cassons' rooms for a while.  Then we all ordered pizza and visited some before we crashed for the night.

They had fun getting in and out of the fancy tub.  Also they were fascinated by the glass enclosed time-machine looking shower.  They would touch the glass, and then reach through the opening... amazed.  Ha :)

The next morning was Sunday, Father's Day, and probably my favorite day of the trip.  Everyone was WELL (more on that to come!), and we spent lots of time with family.  Most of the day we spent at the pool.  Also, most of our Harden relatives came to the resort to see us and meet the boys for the first time.  Great Grandma Bonda got to meet her only two great-grandchildren (for now) :).  It was such a fun day, and both of my boys really enjoyed the pool.

Chris, Colin, Sarah, and Liam playing in the pool

Liam shared his awesome sports car with Anderson- who loved it!

Auntie Lauren :)

(L to R) Mollie, Jim, Terri, Grandma, Grandma Bonda, Dad, Lori, Brady, Mom
Chillin in the shade

After we got cleaned up, we took some Father's Day and family photos:

Great Grandma with the boys :)

Greatly anticipated cuddles!

We love Grandma.

The boys on Father's Day.  Love. Love. Love.

That night the grandparents stayed home after bedtime, and all of us cousins headed out to a 9:00 movie (midnight for us).  We saw Man of Steel- and the first half was pretty good.  All I know about the second half is that it was very loud and kept waking me up.  Ha.  Lauren and I made our best attempt, but Diet Coke was no match for jet lag.

Speaking of... it's after midnight back in VA now... I'm going to sleep.  More to come soon :)

Duet

Brady got to try out the piano seat/ spin/ thing this afternoon.  He seemed to really like it.  No laughing- or smiling, really- but he was very alert and content the whole time he was in it.  

Anderson's love for his old piano seat (I don't know what to call it) was suddenly rekindled.  At first he was so cute playing with it with Brady.  Then he decided he wanted in the seat instead of his brother.  This was the first time I felt like my two boys had to really share something-  which was a learning experience for all 3 of us.  One time out was involved, but over all we were able to take turns pretty well.  

I wouldn't put Anderson in the seat because I told him it was for babies.  But he got himself into it and was happy as could be.  He was very cute squeezed into the little seat.  Hopefully he'll get over it soon.  Brady will be happy to have it all to himself.  :)

April and May

It's 9:00, and currently both boys are peacefully asleep.  It's Saturday, so I've had a chance to catch up on some laundry and get the dishwasher running.  Also, Saturday means I got to "sleep in" until 7:30, so I'm not especially tired.  Lauren visited this week, and I keep expecting the woman from whom we bought this house to swing by for some mail, so my house is actually fairly clean (okay, just downstairs, but still).  Thus, the perfect conditions for blogging :).  

I will add that I'm watching sweet Brady in the baby monitor, and his little hand has worked its way out of his swaddle, so I'm pretty sure he'll be up for a little more eating and snuggling before he's actually down for the night.  But you never know, he is growing up and one of these days won't have to be swaddled so tightly to sleep.  So maybe this post will be finished tonight, but maybe not.  Most nights lately it's been "maybe not."

Things I'm really excited about:
- 4 more weeks and I am finished with the school year, which means I'm finished with full-time work for the foreseeable future.  I am so ready to be home with my boys.  I will also be tutoring and working part-time for my mom.  So I will still be busy- but there's nothing like working full-time and being mom full-time.  I have all of the respect in the world for the Mommas who are able to keep up with both!

-Brady is smiling a lot, and he is laughing some.  He has the sweetest little smile, and we've entered the "happy" 3-month-old phase in which he smiles a lot more than he cries.  He had the dinnertime-fussy-time that a lot of babies do the first few months of life, and it seems like we've gotten through it.  I heard him laugh for the very first time when I was getting him to smile (using a stuffed giraffe from Aunt Mollie) for a picture.  Then a few days later, his Papa got him to really laugh when we were all out to eat.  Funny faces/ noises and tickling are our best chances at getting giggles from cutie Brady.  It doesn't get any better than hearing your baby laugh.

-Anderson said "bwue" and "re" (blue and red) yesterday morning.  He is learning so much everyday and recognizes/ identifies a ton of words.  He's still saying new words on a pretty slow and steady basis; most of the words he says are still letters and numbers.  So breaking through with some color words was a very happy way to start my Friday morning.

And here are some of my favorite pictures from the last month or so...

Anderson helped Daddy with the mulch.  By "help", I mean he followed Daddy around and then brought the mulch from the backyard back to the big pile in the driveway one handful at a time.  He was very content, but more serious than smiley about his yard work (Anderson, that is :) )

With the warmer weather, the boys and I have loved playing in the backyard after school.  Anderson likes the independence and says, "Bye!" when he walks across the yard from us.  Sadie loves it, too, and she and Anderson have become good buddies.  She's still a big (hyper) puppy!

Thanks to my mom, we have a family membership to the Children's Museum of Richmond.  We love it!  Anderson gets to wander around and play, and Brady loves to snuggle and watch.  There's even a nursing room available, so I can feed Brady while Anderson plays with Grandma or Dad.

And Mother's Day weekend... it was perfect!  Saturday afternoon with the Ives, Saturday evening, Anderson and I attended a 2-year old birthday party for Fiona (a new friend from our neighborhood.)  Sunday afternoon at my Mom and Dad's house....

Thirteen Ives this year!  And last Mother's Day, none of us had any idea that the newest 3 Ives would be joining us.  Thank God for surprises!!  :)

Romp N Roll for Fiona's second birthday

Bubble machine

Sandbox with Grandma

All I wanted was a family photo!  No smiles from Brady this time, but I still love the pictures we got :)

My happy place!  Happy Mother's Day to me :)

Whew!  I did it- boys still fast asleep, and I'll be on my way soon.  :)