My Little Munkins

We had a busy weekend as usual. Friday night our friends Chad and Leah came for a visit. We had dinner and played the Newlywed Game. I am glad to say we all made it through with flying colors and no arguments!
Today we got our "munkins" as Brycie would say and decided to do some carving. Blake chose a smiley face while Bryce requested a Ghost. Tim and I did the carving and when we were done they decided to switch (Blake liked the ghost better and Bryce could care less).

They are all ready with their scoops

The finished product
4 little munkins sitting on a porch
Snuggle Bunnies: Bryce plopped on top of Blake and said "Bakey snuggle"

Halloween Hay Ride

My friend Amy and her son, Parker, hosted a magnificent Halloween party last night. The pole barn was decorated, the tables were set with favors, and the spread was unbelievable. The kids played outside, swung at a Piñata , paraded around for a costume contest, had yummy eats and treats, sang songs, and enjoyed a hayride.

Buzz Lightyear won the award for Coolest Costume and here he is taking a crack at the Piñata

Here we are on the Hayride through the field and to the woods
All the kids listened intently as Amy told stories
Here is the lively bunch of party goers

Toy Story

Halloween is fast approaching and we have so many parties to attend. Tonight was the family Halloween party at Blake's school. They had so many fun games and prizes while Buzz Lightyear and Woody attracted many fans all on their own. One little girl in particular saw Blake and Bryce in the parking lot and started going CRAZY. She was yelling, "It's Buzz Lightyear and Woody, look Dad!" It was really cute and Blake felt pretty good about himself :)
Here are my little Toy Story buddies:
Blake says, "I am Buzz Lightyear, I come in peace . . . Mom, what's peace?"
Bryce says, "Ah Buzz, Ah Wooooooody"


Tomorrow is another party that includes a hay ride followed by another one Friday morning at our Mom's Club. We are going to be tuckered out before it's time to Trick or Treat, but at least we are getting a lot of use out of the costumes.

This is Woody and Buzz Lightyear's Mom, Signing Off.

Dessie and the Dentist

Today was Blake's first visit to the Dentist! About a month ago we started playing "dentist office" here at home. I would have him lay down, clean his teeth, then call in Dr. Dentist to check for cavities. He enjoyed playing dentist office so much he would beg me to make him a real appointment. So, I finally got around it and took him in today. Last night he was all worked up about it and did not want to go, so needless to say I was nervous to take him. However, I am more than pleased to report that he was a PERFECT patient!!
He loved his hygienist, Dessie; she was so good with him. She introduced all the instruments as her friends, Mr. Thirsty (suction), Mr. Squirty (Water), Mr. Tickler (polishing brush), etc. She let him feel everything with his finger first before they got started so there weren't any surprises. He did so well through the cleaning that she even took pictures of his teeth (X-rays) and showed him on the screen. He also got a fluoride treatment.
Blake got an A+ from the dentist for excellent brushing technique and no cavities . . . YEAH!!
He was more excited about his toy from the treasure chest and his new toothbrush :) As we were leaving he saw Dessie walking down the hall and called out "Thanks Dessie!" all the girls in the office were smiling and I couldn't have been prouder!

Pumpkin Fest

After recovering from the bodily fluids overdose we decided to spend some family time at Pumpkin Fest with some friends on Saturday.

Blake and Bryce enjoyed the petting zoo

Here is the gang
Blake went on his first Pony Ride!
Brycie LOVED the "choo choo"
Always hoppin in the Moon Bounce
Fishin for pumpkins
After all the fun we headed home for naps then joined another group of friends for Bowling. Blake had the bumper lane all to himself and scored a 127!! Bryce didn't fare quite as well, but it was still a good time had by all.

Poopy Day

Hello my name is Rachel and I hate poop. Yes I am a nurse and should have a tolerance to bodily functions and products, but I have to draw the line somewhere. While I was blow drying my hair this morning (yup still the same day that is referred to in the previous blog) Bryce pooped then removed his diaper and spread his poop all over his ride-on firetruck, on the tile floor, then walked to my bathroom while leaving a trail of poop on the carpet. It has been a rough 18 hours. The little monsters are sleeping now, and I am on my knees praying they wake up happy and in control of their bodily functions because we are meeting my aunt, uncle, and cousins for dinner in Lansing.
By the way, Tim is out of town on business and won't be back until tomorrow . . . he always misses all the fun!

Baby Bulimia??

We had a terrible night last night. I put Bryce to bed at 8pm and then Blake at 8:45pm. Just as I was settling in to watch Grey's Anatomy Bryce yells "Ma Ma" a few times and starts crying. I went up the stairs to his room and smelled the problem before I opened his door. He had stood up and puked all over. I am not trying to be gross, but this kid was going for distance, he shot it clear across the room. It was so disgusting!! Meanwhile, Blake gets up, comes into Bryce's room and says, "Aw, Brycie puked again, why he puke every night?". That is where the Baby bulimia comes in. I am really starting to get upset with Bryce about this. Almost every night for the last week or more he goes to bed just fine until 10-30 minutes later he decides to "puke" all over. You may wonder about reflux or some other medical condition, but I truly believe he does it on purpose. He never gets sick when he lays down for a nap, only when he doesn't want to go to bed at night. A few times he even says "I puke" and puts his finger down his throat. What the heck do I do about this??? He doesn't get to stay up after he does it. I have him sit on his toy bench in his room while I clean it up and change his sheets, etc. then he goes right back to bed.
UGH!!!
The rest of the night went as follows:
Both boys went back to bed by 9:15
11pm Blake got up to go to the bathroom and peed all over the floor and his pajamas. He started crying because he didn't want to take off his bat pjs. I settled him down, cleaned up the bathroom and headed back down stairs.
12:20 Bryce starts crying and yelling "MaMa I puke". I ran upstairs and he was standing up in his crib, but no puke. I layed him down, rubbed his back, and went back to my room.
1:50 Bryce is crying again, followed same routine mentioned above
5:50 Bryce is awake, I brought him into my bed to see if he would fall back asleep, but no luck . . . our day begins
6:40 Blake wakes up crying because he doesn't have pants on . . . he removed the pants I put on him in the night.
WOW, good thing we have a packed schedule today and we are all well rested to enjoy the day.

We're going Batty!

We were so spoiled with warm weather, the cold & rainy weather has us feeling cooped up and batty! So batty in fact that the boys tried out their Halloween pajamas from Grandma.

Here they are trying to fly like bats
Ah, sweet Brycie
Mommy is a push over when he breaks out this "I'm innocent" look

FAITH

Every Sunday comes our test of Faith in the Detroit Lions. Tim has always been a die hard Lions fan. I, on the other hand, get so frustrated I often have to leave the room. My competitive spirit gets the best of me and I am forced to leave and focus on something else. Despite their sometimes frustrating level of play we maintain the Sunday ritual as follows:

Wake up Sunday morning and read the paper (and all the ads)

Eat breakfast, shower, and get ready for church

Go to Mass
Run a few errands after church

Come home, Tim and the boys change into their Lions apparel, and turn on the football talk shows followed by the game.

Tim has quickly converted the boys to be Lions fans, as well. The picture above is from Blake's scrapbook when he was about 5 months old. I guess you have to start them young, before they know any better :0 Today we are off to find a Lions outfit for Bryce!

GO LIONS!!

Nicknames

What's in a nickname? We have so many nicknames for each other. I don't even know how we came up with some of them, but sometimes we get going and don't even use any one's real name . . . it's crazy!
Tim has always called me "Babe" for over 10 years now and the kids have since picked up on that. When Blake was about 20 months and I was 7 months pregnant with Bryce checking out at the Ob/Gyn office when Blake was sliding out of his stroller and started yelling, "Babe, help me up. Babe, I'm fallin, I need help!" Needless to say all the girls in the office were giggling and I was a little red in the face.
Even growing up, we all had nicknames. My mom was "Q" because her first name is Sue, which led to Susie Q, which was then shortened to Q. When we were feeling goofy, it even escalated to Mama Q Mama in a singsong voice!! Now, Blake and Bryce call her "Mimi" because they couldn't figure out how to say Grammy.
My Dad was "Big Guy" which started because everywhere we went random people would say things like, "what can I get ya Big Guy", so it stuck. Blake and Bryce call him "Pa" a much easier version of Grandpa.
My brother had several nicknames: "Boy" or more formally known as "The Boy", Buddha Boy, Aliwishous, Chauncey (don't ask, we still haven't figured that one out) and I know there are many more I can't think of.
To carry on the nickname tradition, I started calling Tim "Timo" (pronounced Teemo), this was overheard by one of Tim's roommates and it became a big hit with our friends :)
I also call his twin brother "Rodney", which is his middle name. Whenever Sean would say or do something that caused a reaction I would say "Sean Rodney", but that was too much, so it became "Rodney". He even signed our wedding guest book as Brother Rodney! And his wife, Erica, is known as "Ca" thanks to Blake and Bryce.
Now with our kids I don't even know where to begin. We have so many nicknames for them it's a wonder they know who we are talking to!!
Blake's nicknames: Blakey, Punkie, Jo, TJ (Tim Junior), Buddy, Mr. Vincent (his middle name)
Bryce's nicknames: Brycie, B, JoJo, Baby Doll, Punker Jo, B-Rice, Tink Tink
I do realize that some of these nicknames are weird, but to me they are so fun. Blake has it down pat, he knows who goes by what name around here and takes pride in enforcing it. When the boys are older and only go by their given name, I will pull out this journal and remind them of their younger days!