Brotherly Love

I knew Christian would make a wonderful big brother, but I really never imagined he'd be this good.  He cuddles Brecken, throws away his diapers, gets me new diapers, gives him his Nukky, talks to him and, of course, pinches his cheekies.  His nickname for him is Brecky or Breck Breck or Brecky Dynomite.  One day Christian was holding him and he kissed him and said, "I can't wait for you to grow so we can play baseball together."

He holds him on the couch.

Talks to him while he's in his cradle.

Lounging on the couch is a favorite past time when he gets home from school.

One night when I was tucking Christian in he asked if Brecken could lay down with him.

I laid him there and he said, "I always wanted you to lay in my bed Brecky."

Of course, there are lots and lots of kisses for Brecky too.

A Day in the Life

Here's a snap shot of A Day in the Life of Christian While Mommy is on Maternity Leave.

Sometimes he gets to pack his lunch box and join his first grade sister for lunch.  He always saves some so he can finish it in the teacher's lounge with Mommy's friends.

Sometimes we go to Mall of America and go a some rides.

He grew a couple inches lately and can go on some new rides, including Splat-O-Sphere.

This was his 'better' smile.

Clearly he's having a rough time forcing a smile lately.

Often, we go out to lunch.

He loves Cadillac Ranch because they give mints at the end of the meal.

Tummy time with Brecken is always a highlight of the day.

He's been getting really good lately and we both cheer and high five while the poor baby is struggling to lift its head.

Holding his little brother is a highlight. 

He never even seems to notice when the baby starts freaking out because it's slipping away.

Sometimes we takes his BFF Rosie with us from preschool and take her to lunch or the zoo or DQ.

We pretty much get dessert where ever we go:-)

Gotta keep those 5 year olds happy.

It was cold one day and we were cleaning out and organizing our huge art closet and came across face paints.  I let him into them while I was nursing the baby.  

I regretted it when our bathtub turned red and everyone kept asking me what was wrong with him for two days because we couldn't get the red completely off.

Once I got him a bag of popcorn at the beginning of a trip to Target.

We were both happy.

He's been in charge of the family dinner lately.

He especially loves cooking with 'fire' aka - the stove.

However, he doesn't mind making brownies either.

We've been busy and enjoying spending time together.

Even though we have adventures and so much fun around 2:00 he always asks when is it time to pick up Victoria and I let him know we'll get her soon.

Brecken's Baby Pics

Even though the first week of Brecken's life was the craziest, most stressful and most overwhelming of all weeks of my life, we still managed to get his baby pictures taken just six days after his birth.

I love the Hey I'm a Brand Spanken New Baby look of the pictures.

Let's start with my favorite.

I think I'll have to keep that out framed for the rest of my life.

Sweet sweet angel!

I'm planning on framing this 12X12 in his room.

Love love love all those chunky baby details.

At this moment he was waking up and getting hungry and I remember I snuggled him and and took a breath of his sweet baby scent to try to calm him down.

It looks like it calmed me down even more than him.

Love my gorgeous boys here.

The only thing that could make this better is if Christian was in it too.

I'm torn on this one since it's missing 66% of our children....

but it's really special to have just Brecken in one too.

I love how peaceful he is....

I want to put his teeny tiny footprints anywhere and everywhere.

I kiss those little feet every time I change his diaper or his clothes or whenever I can.

I love those feet!

If you don't love those chubber cheeks something is wrong with you.

This one is original.

I love how she got him perched on that log.  He barely fit however, there he is.

I love the simplicity of this one.

Gorgeous.

I'm thrilled with those pictures.

I started planning his announcement months ago.

Then I got these pictures and scrapped everything about the announcement and started looking all over again.

I finally ordered them yesterday.

They'll be in the hands of our 125+ closet friends and family next weekend. 

Good Baby

Three nights in a row now, Brecken has only woken once to eat.  That's amazing!!!  I don't know if it's because he's so much bigger and eats more for each meal or if it's his laid back demeanor.  Either way, this baby is awesome!  The whole 'good baby' thing.  Yeah, I got one.  A very very good baby.  Makes maternity leave that much sweeter.  So does this gorgeous (FINALLY) weather we're having!!

One Month

One month old already....

it looks like he's more upset over it than I am!

Victoria's 7th Birthday Party

A couple months ago I asked Victoria what kind of birthday party she wanted.  Her answer... a fun one this time.

I will admit, I was offended.  I've thrown this kid better birthday parties than I've ever seen in my life.  So to want a FUN one, was hard to swallow.

However, I must admit, when she said Chuck E. Cheese I was less than thrilled.

When I asked why she wanted it there she explained how she wanted to do the Ticket Blaster - she saw it on a commercial.  

However, when I realized I could book the entire party online and just had to order a cake and bring it there, this party seemed better and better.  

We headed over to Blaine on Saturday morning and our Birthday Girl was PUMPED!

Here it is:  This is the entire reason we booked the party at Chuck E. Cheese!

I can't tell you how adorable it was!

Victoria's "BFF" from school.

That's how they actually refer to each other.

So first grade cute!

Her guests

Her super special blow up Chuck E. Cheese crown.

What kid wouldn't want one of those?

Our first official family of five picture.  Chuck E. makes six;-)

It was a fun filled day just the way she wanted it!

Annual Daddy Daughter Dance

Last Friday was the annual Daddy Daughter Dance.

This was the third year they've gone.

Emilee got to meet Brecken for the first time before they left.

Here are the little cousins who look a little like twins.

They sooo remind me of Chris and me when we were little.

Guy and Emilee

Mark and Victoria

Unfortunately, it was snowing so we couldn't do pictures outside like we usually do.

Getting ready to head out the door.

When they came home Mark and Victoria couldn't stop saying what a great time they had.

They danced and danced the night away.  Or at least until 8:20 that is.

Victoria said, "You wouldn't believe how much fun I had with Daddy!"

What a great memory for her!