Brayden Letter {March 2010}

Brayden,

You are growing so fast right now Mommy and Daddy cannot keep up with you and all of the new things you are doing!  You are talking up a storm lately, and love trying to pronounce big words.  You get such a kick out of it.  {phenomenol} {exquisite} {ridiculous} {awesome} are some of your favorites, and it makes us giggle that you actually use them in the right context!  You are a funny little guy.  You love books and constantly beg us to "buy it" when you see a good one you want to have.  At the store you will play with toys in the cart and ask us to put them "back on shelf" before we leave so they will be there next time you come.  Then you beg for the books....{smart kid}!  You know we won't say no to buying those.

You love pineapples and call them t-apples.  You and bubbles have a serious relationship right now.  You put your sneakers on to go out on the patio daily to play with them...clothes on or not!!!

You tell us you love us, offer us hugs and kisses now.  I love that.

You beg to hold the door open for Mommy whenever you can, and especially at the grocery store when I open the door to get the milk.  You remind me to buy diapers and milk every single time we go to Walmart.  Must mean this is the norm items you always see us buying there.

You are so polite.  You always say thank you, please, and you're welcome.

You crave being our "big helper"  You help Mommy stir everything in the kitchen when I make dinner.  You want to help me push the shopping cart.  You want to help me close the doors in the house. You want to help me do my hair. You want to help me brush my teeth...it's all so beautiful and so sweet.  I hope you never lose that.

You love to play catch with us.  You throw left handed.  You love to draw and color whenever you can, and mostly you do that as well with a left hand.  Time will still tell on that one Im sure, but I think it's safe to say you will be a lefty.  You love to be outside.  You are getting so much better with walking with us and staying close.  We can now go to the mall sans stroller-and I am not running the whole time.  We can now tell you that is "far enough" and you know that means to stop walking and wait for us. 

You are the best snugglebear there is.  You cuddle so well, and so sweet.  You sleep 12-13 hours a night, and always wake up with a smile on your face saying "morning Mommy".  I love how you pitter patter into the bedroom some nights and want to sleep with us.  I love waking up to you laying on my hair, with drool on my pillow, and even those mornings where you are hot and sweaty and pretty much STUCK to me!!!  I love it, and I would never trade it for anything in the whole world. 

We love you so much Brayden, and cannot wait to watch you continue to grow, make us giggle and teach us that life is about the little things, the moments, and this time right now. 

Love you Bray

Boring....

Tomorrow it is officially April.  April Fools Day at that!  I can say we have no jokes to share at this time.  Life has been somewhat boring for us lately...and for that I am grateful.  Boring can be good. 

Boring has allowed us to enjoy the beautiful weather we have been having.  We have enjoyed blowing many bubbles outside...on an everyday basis.

Boring has afforded us many trips to the playground, as it IS Brayden's favorite place to go these days...when he is not blowing bubbles that is.

Boring means going to bed early, and laying with Brayden reading books and chatting before bedtime about all of the things we did that day!

We spent much of March being just that.....Boring....and it was PERFECT.

Don't wake a sleeping dog :-(

Hopefully I am officially back to blogging, after my two week hiatus, or more I guess.

We have had a rough few weeks here.  Two weeks ago...Brayden was running into the kitchen and tripped and fell.  The fall would have been fine had he not landed either on, or very close to our 13 year old labs tail {who I think was sleeping at the moment of the fall}.  Just as I went to react to the fall...our beloved dog reacted much faster than I...and bit Brayden right in the face.  Bacca has never bit anyone, he is a loving a caring dog...doesnt growl, nip or otherwise.  I'm sure it was that he hates his tail being touched, and I think Brayden landed on it.  Don't wake a sleeping dog huh?  Not only that, but the fall was loud, and Brayden was right in front of the dog dishes as well.  NOT a good combination. 

Bacca immediately backed off realizing he had just bit Brayden, but I experienced that Mommy adrenaline.  Osteo and all...I lifted our 40 some lb lab off of his feet and relocated him across the kitchen to grab Brayden off of the floor.  At first I glanced at Bray and thought "oh thank God it did not break the skin".  Just as I picked him up...I realized it in fact had broken the skin...and pretty badly.  I carried him into the livingroom and just sat with him for a moment on the couch trying to grasp my thoughts and what had just happened without panicking.  Ron was at work.  Bacca came over and tried to lick me, lick Brayden.  I just held Braydens precious little bleeding face into my chest as I searched around the livingroom for something to put on his face to soak up the blood.  I grabbed the wipes hoping it would not burn, but it was all I had that was clean enough to use on his wounds right away...my mind was racing thinking of infections, scarring, stopping the blood, calming him down...keeping my eye on the dogs....it was an insane moment I would NEVER want to re-live again.

I carried Brayden and the cordless upstairs to the bathroom.  I called Ron and told him to not to panic, but what had happened, and he hung up saying "I'm on my way".  I only had some antiseptic wash in the cabinets, so I gently started washing his face with that and some gauze we had on hand.  I put neosporin on it, and we pretty much flew out the door within seconds of Ron getting home.  I was calm surprisingly, but terrified at the same time.  Brayden kept saying "Mommy...help me, help me help me".  It broke my heart...I kept telling him that I was helping him, and that he would be okay.  I was praying I was right in my words.  Ron commented that I was so calm...he was surprised.  I was surprised at myself.

Brayden had two wounds on the left of his face that warranted being looked at.  They wanted to immediately do stitches.  This made us very nervous.  We asked to see a plastic surgeon to consult with so we could minimize scarring for obvious reasons.  A surgeon came in and recommended that we allow it to heal as is, for that would help the scars be minimal.  He actually did say that the antiseptic wash was the best thing for us to use immediately because it allows wounds as such to stay moist rather than drying them out like peroxide.  Good to know.  If I had peroxide I probably would have used it.  He said that would have inhibited the immediate healing needed to make sure a bite like this heals well.  Anyways, they gave him antibiotics, and sent us home.

Two days later...he was infected and very swollen.  Poor peanut could not even open his left eye, it was swollen shut from the cut he got on his eyelid from the bite.  The K9 tooth punctured his left cheek and also got an infection in it.  We took him to the pediatrician for four appointments to monitor and give antibiotic shots so he could get better.  What a nightmare all of this has been. 

To make a long story short...he had to be on the antibiotics for 12 days...which resulted in diarrhea for 12 days, motrin, benedryl, and Rx diaper rash ointment from all of the diarrhea.  We have had to consult with the Environmental Health Department about Chewbacca and his demeanor.  We had to observe him for ten days, and report back to them...provide health records for the dogs, etc.  After numerous conversations with them I finally broke down and asked them if they were going to make us put the dog to sleep.  I had heard horror stories about this sort of thing.  They reassured me they would not if his behavior is normal.  Thankfully it has been.

As for the dogs...dogs are dogs...and I am upset with myself for letting my guard down and forgetting that with a loud and silly crazy toddler running around the house these days with two VERY old dogs that would probably much rather go back to life sans baby if they had their choice. They both love Brayden...are very protective of him...but again...dogs are dogs.

We have endured some criticism about keeping the dog.  We are keeping him/them.  If this had been a situation where Bacca seeked out Brayden to viciously attack him....he would be gone.  This was not the case.  It was completely a reactive result of the situation.  I am not happy with the dog at all...but it is what it is.  Now we just have to be pragmatic about it...wishing we had been all along.

We have watched our poor peanut go through pain everyday because of his wounds, tummy, bruising, and brief frights about dogs in general.  We have beat ourselves up because we got comfortable with the fact that our dogs were nice dogs and we never thought honestly that one of them would bite Brayden.  We had actually noticed a few days prior that the dogs were in fact acting more nervous in his presence, but dismissed it like idiots. We should have been more proactive. 

The dogs now spend the day in our entrance hallway which is seperated by a glass french door.  They are comfy and happy in there, and Brayden can run the rest of the house without worrying about running into them.  They also spend time in the fenced in back yard when the weather permits.  They are happy, I feel better, and Brayden is oblivious to it all now.

He is healing very very well, and is feeling so much better.  After 12 days on antibiotics...we took him off finally.  He then ended up get the stomach flu, and threw up for two days, stopped urinating for 12 hours and we visited the ER with him for a second time in two weeks...argh!  After some Zofran for nausea they gave him...he started drinking fluids again, urniating and is back to our normal happy little guy....thankfully.

Short of Ron eating glass in his ice cream out to dinner two nights ago...all is getting better in our household.  No joke....more about that story another time. 

Braydens wounds are healing very well, and we are hoping the scarring will be very very small.  We are so glad this ordeal is almost over.  We shall be back to blogging as normal, hopefully very soon ;-)

Through my childs eyes...

Lately as I observe Brayden and listen to him play when he thinks I am not...not only is he exploring this new world everyday, but he is slowly teaching me how to see life through his perspective. 

For example...the roof on his little Wonder Pets schoolhouse is just that...a roof.  Yet Brayden calls it "upstairs" and pretend walks all of his little characters {that he so loves to pieces} up the roof and lets them slide down the center hole all the while saying "weeee-fun!"

He actually believes that when I blow bubbles with my hand and soap while he is in the tubby that Mommy makes "bubble magic".

He thinks the houses on our street and others are "castles".

He pretend plays "scary monster" and pretend whines and begs for us to help him from said monster ;-)

 {he really loves this game-seriously}

He uses his potty as a stage and my hair brush as his microphone.  He stands on it in the center of the livingroom and proudly says "hello everybody-how doin'" and sings and talks up a storm as we clap and pretend to be his audience.

He plays under the covers and says we are camping in the tent.

He tells us his belly is talking {another game we play}, and pulls up his shirt while looking at his belly and says "what belly?"  "what?"...and giggles at himself.

He finds joy in brushing his teeth because we sing a fun song while we brush.  He pretend spits into the sink like Mommy and Daddy.

In the tubby he pretends he is white water river rafting {another game we taught him} and yells "whoa, whoa...oh no...hold on Mommy" as he paddles and splashes all over the place ;-)

He thinks Wubzy and Ni Hao live at Walmart.  He loves to go there and asks us we as we pull in there a few times a week "cited Mommy? cited Daddy?"  {are we excited?}  We give him a few toys to play with in the cart as we shop and he asks them "ready guys?" as he situates each little stuffed animal next to him in the cart.  When we get close to leaving we tell him it's time to put the toys back so they will be here next time we come and he nicely hands each one back to us to put on the "shelf" he says!  He then also knows that means he gets "yellow-browns" which are M & M's.  I hate to always get him snacks, but it beats buying $20 toys everytime we go shopping I suppose.

He loves to play tea party at the diningroom table with measuring cups and my tea pot.  We pretend drink and he says its "elicious" and "yummy good mmmm".  We pretend eat cookies too!  He loves to order things and will point his finger to his cheek and he says "ummm I'll have"....

He's convinced when Daddy says he wants ribs that he is sooo getting tickled. 

He knows it's a good buzzerboo when it makes an awfully loud noise ;-)

He eats his apples with a fork in them, {although he has never seen a candy apple}.

He perfectly inspects his lucky charms and picks out each and every "mellow"...leaving the puffs alone for us to eat.

His little motorcycle he rides on is most definately his "cycle bike".   {sickle bike as he says}

He pretend talks on the phone to everyone in our family.  He holds conversations that go something like this...

{as he's holding the phone up to his ear}

Hello?

How doin'?

nuh-uh...wow really?

Oh.my.gosh...no way

really?

Are you kidding me?

yes...yes...I guess.

Okay, bye!

Ron says he is imitating my phone conversations ;-)  ha ha!

The lamp is a playground with his little people and lets them slide down the legs of the lamp.  He tells them the laptop is a shelf...and periodically makes them play peak a boo from behind the screen as we are on the computer.

His imagination is soaring.  He interprets things in a beautiful and imaginative way.  He has his little friends hug eachother and asks them if they are okay?  He is genuine, he is inquisitive, and he is funny. 

He can tell by just looking at us if something is wrong...even in our best efforts not to show it.  He has really good intuition.  He feels out his surroundings.  He is curious and compassionate. 

He is teaching me to look at everything with a new set of eyes.  We can control how we percieve situations in our lives by changing our previously learned views of things.  Yes..it's much harder as an adult to change the way you think or feel about certain things, but seeing life through the eyes of a child can offer an immense amount of knowledge if you let it. 

Everything can be a playground if we choose to see it that way sometimes.

We can loudly shout weeeee whenever we choose too and do it just to enjoy the ride of life we are on sometimes as mundane and hectic as it can be.

We can eat with our fingers and put forks in our apples if that is what makes it easier for us. ;-)

We can look at a roof as though it's not just the top of something, but stairs to something better.

Our ride of life can be full of paddling and big splashes...irregardless of the mess it might make.

We can pull up our shirts and ask our belly's "what?" and try to listen to that inner voice so many of us ignore. ;-)

The world can be our stage if we weren't afraid of the reaction we might get from the audience.

We could all giggle at ourselves and play more.

We can dig out the good stuff and leave the rest in the bowl if we want to.

We could believe in magic.  We could accept things that are different rather than question every previously known ideal.

We could trust our surroundings more, and learn to love what we have, not long for what we don't.

I know that although I am trying so hard to shape this little guy of mine in just the right way, that he too is doing his own shaping of us.  He is adapting to life as we adapt to his.  He forces us to be people we would never have been prior to having him in our world.  It's amazing what I see when I look at him.  I see who I once was as a child.  I see who Ron once was as a child.  I see him acting like us, using the same voice inflection, or the same facial expressions that we use.  I see the things that we have taught him coming out in his personality.  It's him...it's us...it's everything we have been and it's everything he will be and more. 

It's him, happily forcing us to see life through his eyes, his world, through a more simple, optimistic and beautiful new perspective. 

It's him.

Thank you Brayden...I love you.

-Mommy

Color me Happy!

I had a really ugly old picture my Mom gave me years ago.  I knew I could do something fun with it.  Today as Brayden and I sat coloring at the table, I thought...hmmm....I know what I could make. 

Here...BEFORE:

and here is the AFTER:

I think it's just the cutest thing ever!  Now I just need to find a place to hang it ;-)

One step forward...

I will admit, I have been in a blog funk lately.  I have so many things to blog about, and no time to do it...when it would seem that since I am at home with Brayden these days that I would have all the time in the world to write, blog and share pictures.

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in life's day to day events, triumph's and struggles that other things can seem to go by the wayside. 

Let me share with you our lives as of late.

First...we had a wonderful Valentines day.  Brayden painted a beautiful canvas for Daddy all by himself.  He insisted on using paint brushes because he knows that what I always use, and he is not a huge fan of getting his hands all dirty.  Needless to say though...stripped down to a diaper on a towel in the bathroom...he painted his heart out.  He requested the colors he wished to use on Daddy's surpirse present.  He turned the paint brush and drew in the paint once it was all finished, which made a neat design.  He was so excited.  After we were all done...I plopped him into the tubby and had to give him two baths to get him all clean as he had paint on him everywhere...belly button included!  When Daddy got home from work he quickly and excitedly announced to him that "I paint Daddy, present...a castle....then tubby".  He can't keep a secret evidently ;-)  Oh well.

Daddy LOVED his picture so much he has been walking around the house holding it up in various places on the wall to see exactly where he wants to hang it.  I said to Ron, "Why don't we put it in our room on the wall, the colors kind of match in there"  and Ron replied "yeah, but nobody will get to see it in there, and I want everyone to know Brayden painted this for me".  {sniff sniff}...how sweet is that?  Ron is not an overly emotional person to others...and it was just such a statement of emotion as to how much this messy little canvas meant to him...and the fact the Brayden worked so hard on it for Daddy. 

These are the moments in life that when they happen I quietly reflect and then THANK GOD for my life ;-)

Daddy bought Brayden a big green heart filled with his favorite candy...M & M's.  They were all green inside.   Bray LOVED them, stinker!

We also took a trip to the Ice Castle last weekend as well.  Brayden thinks everything is a castle lately, and was truly taken back by the real thing, all lit up with a bon fire and all.  It's a yearly thing here where we live, and its on the lake.  There was music, good food, lights, tons of people bundled to the hilt, fireworks and snowmobiles driving on the lake {scary I know!}...but we had lots of fun.  It was SO cold though that we did not stay for long.  Brayden however would have stayed all night if he could have.  It was so fun to share this with him though...and he truly had a wonderful time. 

Other than all of that...we have just been trying to stay home, stay warm, and get the house done...you know...the normal everyday stuff.  Brayden has been trying to be a big helper in the kitchen with me lately...since I have been making more meals at home these days.  It's nice to finally be in a place in our lives where that simple normalcy now seems like a blessing to us, rather than a burden.  I like that bad things make you appreciate the small things all the more. 

We are slowly recovering from 2009....it's still going to take us some time...but I have learned that one step in the right direction everyday will eventually get us there.  One step, one day at a time. 

Dining Chair Re-do Part I

Two years ago I purchased these chairs from a garage sale...4 of them for 6$, and later found two captains chairs to match this set at another sale for $2.  They are not in the best condition, and need to be completely refinished, but I don't want to put that much energy into them just yet.  So...I figured first I would play around with upholstry and see if I even liked the outcome before deciding to do anything more with them. 

 Last week I found a Waverly curtain panel at Big Lots for like $6.  I bought one, knowing by its size I would have plenty of fabric to do my chairs.  I decided to cover the backs of the chairs because I just dont like them...simple as that.  For the backs, I used cardboard and batting, fit them in the slight indentation on each side of the chair, and hot glue hot glue hot glue.  I secured the outer sections with rope and more hot glue to secure them even more, and they are not going anywhere! 

 Some fabric buttons finish the look, and a few serious burns later...here it is.  I still need to do something with the wood on the chairs, shine it up-paint them...don't know yet...but so far one chair is complete, and I really do love it!  Can't beat it for less than 3$ a chair huh?  Happy Decorating!

BEFORE

AFTER