Magic House - STL vacation

Jacob left to see his brother for a week so the kids and I took a little mini vacation with our friends to St. Louis. We had so much fun hanging out at the pool, going to the park, and going to the magic house. The park we went to was really cool, it had a mini zoo there. There was a pig, peacock, cows, horses, ducks, etc. Dane got to feed the ducks for the first time. I can't say that Brynna had as enjoyable of a time as Dane did. She was sleeping in the carseat strapped into the stroller and while we were looking at the peacock she decided to roll down into the ditch and flip over in the stroller. She was perfectly fine praise God but I definitely wont be winning mother of the year this year. I was so thankful that she didn't realize that anything happened.

The Magic House was such a neat place to go to. Dane loved it so much that we didn't get to stay long because he kept throwing a fit every time I would try to take him from one room to the next. It was like every room we went into was the BEST PLACE EVER! Every time I would try to go to another room he would kick and scream and fall on the floor like a mad man. We were there about an hour and then I finally had to throw in the towel and just take him back to where we were staying because I couldn't manage both kids by myself. It didn't help that the place was super busy that day. The little time we did spend there he had so much fun.

One of the rooms he played with some magnetic blocks and was building things. Then he started playing with these tornado type jars and sea shells. Next he played in the water room and then finally there was a room with sand and also slides. I would love to go back when Brynna is older and Jacob is with me. I think we could literally spend the entire day there. Too bad we don't have anything that cool here in Kansas City for their age.

Day at Loose Park

It was a gorgeous day so we decided to go to Loose Park and enjoy a family day together. The kids and I had never been there so we thought we would check it out. The park was beautiful and had lots of things for Dane to enjoy. We started off just walking around and enjoying all the beautiful flowers and the rose garden. I can see why people like to take wedding photos there. After walking around we journeyed over to the playground and let Dane burn off some energy running by sliding and swinging and climbing around. Last but not least we ended our time at the spray park. Dane had a great time playing around. At one point there was a group of young girls that laid their towels down and went and laid on them and next thing we see is Dane walking over and starting to lay down next to them, what a laugh.

Dane is 22 months old

Where do I start? This kid is a pistol! Dane is a maniac these days. This kid has more energy than I know what to do with. Every day we are faced with a new bruise, scrape, bump, you name it. I swear I don't beat the kid. He is just so active and brave. He is always running and climbing outside which sometimes ends poorly.

He is finally starting to talk a lot more but we still can't make out most of what he says. He started shaking his head yes rather than the usual shaking no that he learned a while back. He is also starting to repeat what you say, at least one of the words from the sentence. I know anytime now his vocabulary is just going to explode.


Dane has two new hobbies, guns and sticks. Every minute he is outside he has a stick in his hand. He will pick up the tiniest stick all the way up to a small branch. If he is not swinging one of those around he is in a gun battle with you, anything he can pick up can be a gun. The other morning he shot me with his toast. I don't know where he learned to "shoot" because we never taught him that. I guess those sorts of things just come natural to a boy. 

relaxing with his sister

this is what face planting on the sidewalk will get you.

Brynna is 3 months old

Modeling a new hat made by a friend

My precious baby girl first thing in the morning

pretty rare but she does get upset

More common expression

Clearly the most precious little girl in the world

Big brother showing her how awesome Baby Einstein videos are

Daddy is doing double time.

Dane kissing his baby sister. I think she may have tried to eat his nose.

My bear bear is already 3 months old now! She is such a happy baby. We are working on her sleep schedule and self soothing to sleep right now. I hate having to let her cry when it is time for bed but I know in the long run it will be worth it. I have a harder time letting her cry than I did Dane. I don't know if it is because he just cried all the time so I felt like there was nothing I could do where as she doesn't cry much at all. It could also be that she is my last baby and I just want to cuddle her and enjoy every rocking moment with her. I don't know what the reason is but the bottom line is that it is a struggle for me. On the plus side she has been sleep 12 hours for the last several weeks. AMAZING!

The latest with her is that she loves to coo, smile, and laugh all the time. In the mornings she is a total angel. She likes to lay on her play mat kicking, punching, and playing with her dangling toys. In the car we have a mirror on the back of the seat that has a monkey on top and when she gets in the car she just smiles and talks to it.

Last week she weighed in at a whopping 14 lbs and 5 oz.

Getting Greener

Well we've gone crazy, I mean, cloth. All joking aside we started using cloth diapers about a month ago. Since Dane was born I was curious about using them versus the disposable kind. I asked around but couldn't seem to find anyone I knew well enough to talk me into it or that had used them. I was worried about the start up cost being so high and the chance that I wouldn't like them. I just so happened to mention that I was interested and one of my friends saw my post and was so generous to bless us with 12 cloth diapers that she no longer uses. This has been such a blessing to me because it is saving us about $3 to $4 a day. I find that they are not much work at all and the benefit far outweighs the little work that is involved. My biggest complaint is that they are bulkier so clothes don't fit exactly the way they should and poor Brynna is already a little beefcake. I have been using them on both kids and washing every night but it really isn't bad. I wish I would have done this from the beginning with Dane but its better late than never!

Dane is 21 months old

Getting ready for his first bike ride with Daddy

Just finished riding and he really liked it

"What do you want?" face

Enjoying the slides at the Tiffany Springs water park

Waking up

Dane is now 21 months old and really enjoying some new fun activities. We have had so many play dates this month. We have been getting out about 3 to 4 times a week with our friends and hanging out or going to the park. For the first time I took him to the Tiffany Springs water park and he loved it. In the morning they have a toddler time for about 2 hours where they only turn on the kiddie area and let the little ones go for it. The area is perfect because he doesn't have to wear a life vest and the water is shallow enough he can walk around just fine. The slides are a little much for him to do by himself but he sure had a good time going down them with me. He would take my hand and drag me up the stairs to the slide at least 10 times before he started to get tired. We had so much fun spending some one on one quality time together, Jacob was home so he was able to keep Brynna.  

Dane also enjoyed some one on one time with Jacob riding around the neighborhood on his bike. Dane loves to just sit back and look at all the scenery around him. Sometimes Jacob will go back and forth on our street and Dane will wave and talk to me. You can tell he thinks he is so cool being with his daddy. 

Yes Jacob, it really happened

Well this is classic Brynna style. She came out of the womb pooping on the nurses. As you can see it was so bad we had to just dispose of the clothes. Poor Jacob could not believe his eyes when he saw her in the bouncy seat with a pink onesie on with a brown ring all the way around her. Believe it or not though he cleaned her all up. What an awesome daddy he is.