Brice's Big Boy Bed (20 months)

A little earlier than I wanted, but Brice now has a toddler bed. A few weeks ago Brice just kept getting out of his crib. Quite easily too! So we decided to do a toddler bed. He actually is doing very well with it. He usually gets up and gets some books to read in bed, and opens and closes the door. And only a few time has he fallen asleep on the floor (which is so pathetic looking and cute all at the same time!) Naps can take a little longer and there have been a few days where he has refused to nap, but overall much better then I thought it would go!

Where did my baby go???

Christmas 2011

We did it, we faced traveling during the Christmas season with a 1 year old for the long haul to MA. Brice was a good boy on the flight and it was great spending Christmas with the McCollems! We got to meet beautiful Michaela for the first time and had a blast watching Aiden and Brice play (well as much as 1 year old play!) Brice was spoiled with toys including two big ride on trucks. Scott and Liz cooked a delicious meal on Christmas Eve, the boys got to make the traditional Christmas cookies and we even got to go to the church Darren grew up going too. We saw the common lights and Brice got to experience what real cold is and learned how to say "Brrrrr"!
Now as fabulous as the trip was the flight home, or the missed flight home was frustrating. But to focus on the positive, it did give us an extra day with family!

Thanksgiving

Just to catch up on last year, now that we are in March 2012! Uncle Brett came out for his 4th thanksgiving. He and Darren went down to tombstone and live like a cowboy for the day, watching gun fights and drinking in Saloons. Then we went to my parents for a delicious Thanksgiving meal! And to end the trip Darren and Brett put up the Christmas lights and even added a few gems to the house this year! It looked fabulous!

New Flooring!

While Brice and I were in CA Darren decided to tear up the linoleum and put down slate flooring in the kitchen and entryway. He worked every night after work and after I hopped off the plane and put Brice down for a nap we bonded over grouting together. Darren did an amazing job tiling and I love, love, LOVE our new floors!

Our week in CA - October 2011

I had a fun week with Riley and Brice when Brice and I went to CA. The beginning was a little rough, Brice didn't want to nap and having two kids on opposite nap schedules is exhausting, but we got the hang of it by the end of the week.

A few days I took them to the park down the street, which was nice, a very big park and they could run everywhere.

One night we all went to Rileys school for an event they were having, there were a lot of people and only one grilled cheese truck, so unfortunately no grilled cheese like I was promised ;)

Riley and I did some Halloween crafts one afternoon while Brice was sleeping.

We went for ice cream one afternoon.

We had a few visits from Auntie Lauren.

But the best was after four days I got brave and took them both to the zoo! That was fun. I rented the double stroller, had Kyla's free zoo passes and went for the day. It was an adventure from making sure when Riley said she "had to pee" that we ALL made it to the bathroom quickly to letting them get out and run around to burn off some energy. It was a lot of fun and the drive home was so peaceful!

Brice and I had a great week with Kyla, Lauren and Riley. I was nervous about the flight home alone with Brice, but it went very smoothly, with one passenger saying "he was a very good boy on the flight"

We look forward to more adventures in CA!

The President

Yes, President Obama was in town today to talk to employees at Intel about job opportunities and keeping work in the U.S. etc. The really cool thing was he flying into Mesa-Gateway Airport a mile down the road from us. Darren came home early so he wouldn't be stuck in president traffic. We drove to the Walmart parking lot and went to the sidewalk with a bunch of other people to see him drive by with the motorcade, He was hanging out the window and waving. That was pretty cool, but the swarm of police motorcycles was pretty cool too! So now we can tell Brice he has seen the president!

A few new things

Brice learned three things today...

1) How to knock on a door with a closed fist (He was knocking with an open palm)
2) How to open the back sliding door (is good or letting the dog out)
3) How to ride a tricycle going forward (he was always going backward which never got him where he wanted to be)

And that is just what I noticed. He is starting to just pick things up a little easier, he is getting so big!

Always walk through life
as if you have something new to learn and you will.
Vernon Howard

Sleeping

"Baby's fishing for a dream,
fishing near and far.
His line a silver moonbeam is,
his bait a silver star."
Alice C.D. Riley

I think Brice is the cutest when he is sleeping. Darren and I peek on him every night before bed and he is always in a different part of his crib, in a different position with different things in his crib (yes we load up his crib up with toys/books to see if we can get 10 mins of extra sleep in the morning.)

Side Note: As I settled in to write this post, I hear Darren coming down the stairs and I here a little voice saying 'freee', which is three in Brice speak (I always count with him as we go down the stairs). So yes it is 9 at night and Brice is awake. He squeals when he sees me and I am pretty sure he knew he got out of going to bed tonight and can stay up for a little more fun. So we are now up watching American Idol and dancing to some of the singers.

So now that I have put him down for the second time, I was saying, oh ya he is cute when he is sleeping, but it was pretty cute hearing him count down the stairs as well!

Airport Experience

Waiting to board.

I thought this deserved its own post!

As always the airport is never stressful with a child no matter how well they are behaved (insert sarcasm). After having no incidents with JetBlue in August, I thought Southwest would be the same, until the lady at the desk asked for a birth certificate or shot records since Brice was still a lap child. Thankfully Kyla was there so while I finished checking in she called Brice's pediatrician who faxed it right over. OK stressful situation one... check.

OK time to go up the escalator, get ready here comes stressful situation two! Picture a slightly frazzled group going up the escalator with Brice in a banana stroller and a man with the Phoenix Sky Harbor purple volunteer shirt gets on behind you and says "there better not be a U.S Marshall at the end of the escalator or you'll be fined $500." We both throw out a polite we didn't know you couldn't bring a stroller on, we are sorry. Nope that wasn't enough he lectured us up the entire escalator ride all the way to the TSA check-in line. I stopped talking and Kyla was still polite enough to keep apologizing to get the guy to stop.

Yes we did finally make it to CA!

So true (Brice was told more then once to stop touching!)

October 2011 = BUSY!

This was a fun month. Kyla and Riley came for a visit. We went to the Childrens museum which is always a big hit and then hung around with family. Then Brice and I packed up and flew back to CA for the week with them.