The start of summer

We had a BUSY Memorial Day weekend. It started off with graduation for Matt's students and ended with a family reunion. The weather got steamy - par for the course around here! We also hit some big milestones for Nola. Her first tooth, lower right bottom, broke through! And, she also said her first word. I was folding her laundry on her bedroom floor as she pulled herself up to stand next to her chair. I asked what she was doing - Nola broke into a big smile, started waving (something Grandma taught her), and said "mama, mama"! This of course, made me break into a big smile!
Matt was asked by the seniors to give a speech at graduation - it was titled "The Road Ahead, the Right Now, and the Memories". It was very thoughtful and had just the right amount of humor. It was really neat to hear him speak....unfortunately Brenner fell asleep and missed it but Nola jabbered through most of it!

Brenner found a June bug and wanted to show it off. Check out that super cute smile! BHP is also sporting his Buzz Lightyear jammies - who might have narrowly passed Spiderman as favorite characters these days.

A new use for my teapot - hot wheel carrier. Thanks, Brenner!

Brenner playing with his Leap Pad while Papa relaxes. Thanks, Rhonda - he loves it! Brenner will even sneak out of bed and play it when he is suppose to be asleep!

Brenner played and played at the park during the family reunion - he didn't even want to stop to eat a hot dog! A big thanks to Cousin Colten for playing with him!

Aunt Lynnie, Nola, and mommy. Hey, Aunt Lynnie, watch out - you are in my space! Nola continued to be a mommy's girl not letting anyone hold her. When will she figure out that I am not really that cool?

Nola had some "firsts" at the park playing on the equipment. Here she is on a piggy.

Nola really liked the slide - mostly just sitting at the bottom but then she worked up the courage to stand up on it.

Big hug for mommy while relaxing in the afternoon sun!

So - Monday morning Brenner wanted to take some pictures. Here is a great one he snapped of Nola!

And here is one of Papa that he snapped. While previewing the pictures on the camera, Brenner would say "Wow, that one is awesome!"

Preschool Graduation

Brenner graduated from his 3-year old preschool class this week. We attended the graduation and a picnic. It was fun to see Brenner playing with his classmates - he is getting so big!
Brenner was more enthused that he looks in this picture. They sang songs - it was cute (see video below).

I wanted to get a picture of all of us at BHP's graduation. While focusing on him, I didn't notice Nola sneaking a piece of watermelon. It was confiscated because of the seeds...although that leads to another interesting story. Remember the gum wrapper I mentioned last week...well I found it. And for your information, it takes approximately 30 hours for a gum wrapper to pass through the digestive track of an 8 month old!

Brenner had a cheering section at graduation. Aunt Lynnie, Colten, Krystee, and Grandma Val enjoyed watching him too!

I love this smile....here Brenner is with his buddies.

The day after graduation, there was a picnic with the 3 and 4 year olds. This is Ms. G - Brenner adores her and she has such a technique of herding cats :)

Eating lunch at the picnic!

Brenner was a bit smitten with one classmate. Here he is helping her check out a boo-boo. He followed her around for a good bit! At one point, she said "Brenner can you help me" as they climbed up the slide backwards. So he came over and grabbed her hand...super cute!

Nola pops up on pretty much any thing! She still doesn't think crawling is worth her time and now climbs up constantly. Nola can now steady herself with one hand and can even balance for a few seconds without holding anything.

So beautiful. Here Nola was playing on a blanket outside while Papa was working on mulching the flower beds.

Smile! Boy is she going to be trouble......she has some funny quirks. She does not mind cold food or milk. In fact, I never heat up her baby food and she scarfs it right down...she has now tried green beans along with the peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, pears, apples, and banana. Tonight we try pumpkin!

Below is a video from graduation. I know some of you wished you could have made it - so this is for you! It is kind of long (2 minutes) but it is fun to watch Brenner get more comfortable as the song progresses!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

We have been working on showing "respect" with Brenner. I remember when Brenner was approaching the "terrible twos" friends warned me that the threes were even worse.....I now agree with them! So - we have been trying various avenues of trying to get Brenner to be a good boy most of the time (because none of us are perfect!). Brenner just doesn't slow down and continues to be an active boy both physically and mentally! We had a few insightful comments over the past week. We went to a local nursery and when Brenner saw the flowers, he exclaimed "Aren't they gor-ge-ous?!" BHP also go a pencil from school that was not sharpened, and he told me with a very matter-of-fact tone "It doesn't have a drawer on it yet." Brenner also quizzes me. "Mommy, where is North America? Here, sweetie. Mommy, where is South America? South of here, sweetie. Where is East America, mommy?" Good one, buddy! While making dinner, Brenner decided he wanted to be a worm so he was crawling all over the floor when he announced "This worm needs some spinach!" BHP proclaims to hate spinach so I thought if he is asking for it, I am giving. Sure enough he ate...wait, excuse me...the "worm" ate about 5 leaves of spinach.
Then there is Nola...sweet, sweet Nola. Content as can be......Matt and I agree that she will pay us back for this sweetness about 15 years from now!

Nola, Brenner and I had a picnic lunch. Here, BHP was instructing Nola to look at the camera.

Despite the challenges, Brenner has been doing very well at school. We were pleased when this note came in his backpack last week! Yeah, Brenner! We are so proud of you!!!!

Not sure what Nola is doing with her tongue but this was a cute picture. She is still not interested in crawling - just wants to stand. Nola will even stand at the coffee table and pick up her hand so that she balances on her feet for a few seconds. Mom said I by-passed crawling - maybe she will do the same!

I like this picture because you can see the long tufts of hair on the back of Nola's head. Her bald spot is finally gone - yahoo!

Grandma Val snapped this picture while Nola napped the other day. Too funny!

Brenner has been wanting to dress like Matt and me so in the mornings he has been really entertaining. Here he has on Matt's dress pants........

.......and here he has on my boots - but I guess we could call them his first pair of waders! The outfit wouldn't be complete with out the Superman shirt and the Buzz Lightyear jammie shorts. It was soooo hot here last week - 90s and muggy. We didn't turn on the air conditioning, but Brenner insisted on going out side one evening with long sleeve Superman jammies (pants and shirt), muck boots, and his superhero cape......he looked miserable but wouldn't stop running around the yard!

Nola got to try fingerpainting for the first time. She liked it as you can tell!

No, no - don't eat the fingerpaint. This girl tries to sneak EVERYTHING in her mouth...so far we have had close calls with Grandma's earring, a rock, and a gum wrapper. I never found the gum wrapper..........................

No one, and I mean no one, can make Nola laugh like Brenner. She adores her big brother and he loves playing it up!

A girl on the move and a trip to the zoo

We have had a busy week with Nola trying to figure out crawling, preschool events for Brenner, and a trip to the zoo with some friends. Brenner also turn 3.5 this week so it was time to measure him - the little guy has grown 1 1/4 inches in the last 4 months! BHP also had some funny sayings this week. While giving him a bath, I noticed a bruise on his elbow. I noted "That's a good bruise, buddy." Brenner responded "Thank you." Brenner also was so proud to have put on his sock all by himself that he had to call me at work. I said "wow, I am proud of you!". Brenner then informed "I will tell you again when you get home so that you can say 'wow' again". Nola also brings smiles to our faces by chattering and babbling to herself while she plays and eats....just like I did as a kid! Matt was also funny last night saying "I could entertain another just for the mere fact of watching your child being born". He paused, looked at me, then continued "...yeah I know it sucked for you." I laughed - neither time sucked for me but rest assured were are happy with just the two!
Sweet Nola is going to show you how she tries to crawl........

(Grrr....the blog turned this picture) Anyway - note Nola starts on her fanny and leans forward but her left foot is always in the way.

She finally rolls to her tummy and begins her yoga poses.

Then Nola goes into pushups. Yes - that is a look of frustration on her face. She is not happy...

That silly dress was in the way (please disregard the mismatch outfit!). Here you can really see how far up she gets! From here Nola pushes herself backwards. Soon she will be going forward!!

Brenner at Grandparent's Trike Day with Grammy Vo. Brenner had a lot of fun and Grandma Val and Nola cheered him on!

My friend Kim convinced me to take off work last Friday and go to the zoo. We all had a ball. Brenner loved the cheetah on the carousel - I rode a puffin :) I had such a great time having some one on one time with Brenner - he is one super kid!

Brenner and Grant loved the herpatarium. Here they are examining a pitviper. Kim and I had a contest to see who could get a picture of both boys looking at the camera...no small task to these little balls of energy!

The boys ran around the zoo for several hours. Kim and I did a good job of keep up! I don't know where they get all that energy! We also saw tigers, cheetahs, flamingos, and many other birds.

I win!!!!! I finally got the pictures with both boy's faces. Of course we had to strap them into their car seats :)