Interview with Brooke (age 4)

How old are you?  4

What do you like to eat? "Pasta, carrots, cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas, green smoothies, watermelon, pears, spinach, and chicken nuggets.  I'm your healthy eater, huh.  Oh and I like cheese.  I'm your cheese girl because I LOVE cheese."

What food is super yucky?  "Orange chicken"  (or anything spicy)

What do you like to drink?  "Chocolate milk of course"

What is your favorite book?  "The Littlest Mermaid and Pinkalicious"

What does mommy say?  "Clean up"

How do you fix an owie?  "from sleeping lots."

What is your favorite movie?  "Princess ones... like ... Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty."  She also likes to watch our family home videos.

What about your favorite cartoon?  "Hmmm.... The Magic School Bus.  Is that your favorite too?"

What do you like about daddy?  "When he shows me funny stuff on the computer like that fat man in a diaper.  It's so funny."  (He showed her some commercial on youtube that had a sumo wrestler in it.  She thought it was hilarious.)

What's your favorite toy to play with at home?  "My babies.  I like playin' babies with you when I'm the mommy and you're the sick grandma.  Can we play babies now? ....  I also like my big pink ball I named Isha."

What game do you like to play at family night?  "Duck duck goose."

What is the funnest thing to do outside?  "I like playing in the sand ... dig, dig, dig .. and making birds nests out of your grapefruit peels."

Where is your favorite place to go?  "Jump Street."  (Craig just took them there a few weeks ago.  It has lots of trampolines and bounce houses.)

What did you do today?  "We went to the store.  Oooooh, what's that mildew smell?"  (As she sniffs my feet and pulls off my socks)  "Your socks smell stinky mommy.  Let me just put these in the wash."

What do you like about mommy?  "When you give me kisses and luvs ... and doin' nails."  (painting nails)  "Mommies are nice because they always share food."

What do you want to be when you grow up?  "A princess and a mommy and nothing else."

What do you think we should name the new baby?  "Blueberry poop!! ha ha ha j/k.  I like Ty.  Are we done yet?  This is taking too long."

Favorite sport?  "Soccer"

Favorite person?  "You... actually you and daddy.  I love me a lot too!" ( As she is answering this question she has taken my decorative pillows and placed them in a pattern of red,yellow,red,yellow across the couch and she is jumping from pillow to pillow. lol)

If you could go anywhere in the whole world where would you go?  "Disneyland & the beach.  Then Grandpa Johnson's house, and Nani & Grandpa's house too."

What is mommy best at?  "Painting.  What am I best at mommy?"  Being happy.  "I'm best at coloring, I think."

Who is your Hero?  "Jace, because whenever I get lost for pretend he finds me and rescues me.  Then he kisses me ... YUCK!!! j/k"

What do you think daddy does all day at school?  "He thinks about me.... and when he does he smiles."

What is your favorite thing about Jace?  "Playing games like 'find the jungle'.  We made that one up."

What is scary to you?  "When all the lights are turned off and it's so SO dark and I couldn't find you because you were lost and everyone was gone and I was alone and robbers were getting me.  That's so scary.  If robbers came to my house I would make the stairs slippy."  (She meant that she would ice over the outside stairs like Kevin does on the movie Home Alone.)

What makes you mad?  "When Jace hits me.  Would you give me a treat to chomp, chomp, chomp??

Brooke,  you crack me up!  You say the funniest things and I love that you are so happy all the time.  You are like a beam of sunshine that lights up our world everyday.  Whenever daddy is having a rough day he gets to come home to you and it makes everything all better because you run up to him and give him loves and tell him about all your crazy adventures.  I love it when we're in the car and I look back and see you smiling back at me.  I love playing dress ups and babies with you and painting nails with you.  I don't love that you like to get into my makeup and are constantly sneaking my lip gloss.  In fact, you hid some somewhere because every morning you have some on before preschool and I can't figure out where you have hidden it.  I think it's hilarious how much of a girlie girl you are.  On the way to school you always ask me "Mom, do you think it will mess up my hair if I sit all the way back in my carseat?"  You have a ball going through my clothes and shoes and trying them all on.  I try not get too mad when I find the mess you always leave behind.  You could work on cleaning up your many messes and being a nicer sister.  Sometimes you find joy in taunting and teasing Jace because you know exactly how to get a reaction out of him.  Then you come running to me or daddy as the victim acting like Jace is beating on you for no reason at all.  You love helping me with cooking especially making cookies, brownies, and banana bread.  You're my best bowl licker and you always want to help wash the sink out.  I love being pregnant with you! lol  (you think there is a baby in your tummy too).  You have already volunteered to take the poopy diapers out to the garbage and be my best helper when the new baby comes.  I know that you will make an amazing big sister.  I love you, Brooke!  (even if you wipe my kisses off.)

Is it weird that she likes to watch cartoon in this position?

Here is some of her artwork:

Butterfly done with watercolors at home.

Mommy with a rainbow with markers.

A "hole"  done with finger paints in preschool.

Mommy laying in bed sick with a baby in her tummy. Done with crayons in Sunbeams church class.
I think her teacher helped her with the flowers.

Interview with Jace (age 6)

How old are you?  "5 ... I mean 6."

What do you like to eat?  "Treats, apples, popcorn, chips, cheese pizza, hamburgers, salad with ranch, chicken, blueberries, and watermelon."

What food is super yucky?  "Spinach, beets, onions, peppers, and zucchini."  (most veggies)

What do you like to drink?  "Root beer floats"

What is your favorite book to read at night?  "Iron Man Adventures & my special book."  (I Love You Forever)

What is your favorite movie?  "Pearl Harbor: disk 2 ... just the fighting parts ... not the kissing parts."

What is your favorite thing about school?  "Recess and PE"

What does mommy say?  "NO" ( lol )

What cartoon do you like the best?  "Wild Crats!?!" "Two guys that save animals with creature powers."

What do you like about mommy?  "When you let me play on your phone instead of saying no."

What do you like about daddy?  "He's always nice to me."

What is your favorite toy right now?  "Airplanes and torpedo missiles - cuz I like that kind of stuff."

What game do you like to play at Family Night?  "Tag, hide and seek, and duck duck goose.  I'm the best hider in the house."

Who is your hero?  "No one"

Who is your favorite person?  "My Grandpa Robert."

What do you want to be when you grow up?  "I haven't decided yet.  Maybe the President because he gets to be in charge of EVERYTHING ... even the military and bombs and attacks."

What do you think we should name the new baby?  "Ashton"  ( His first thought was Peter Parker from Spider Man)

What is your favorite sport?  "BASEBALL!!  I yelled in your face.  I like swimming too."

If you could go anywhere in whole world where would you choose?  "Indiana"  Indiana? "Yeah, that's a state in our country.  I heard Johnny Appleseed died there."  (random thoughts by Jace lol)

What does mommy do best?  "Painting and drawing"

What do you like the most about Brooke?  "She's such a dummy (stern look from mom) ... okay ... she's weird ... (sterner look from mom) ...  she likes to dip her feet over the couch.  That's not it.  She just a really cute girl."

What scares you?  "Dying"

What makes you angry?  "Brooke, because she always likes to be mean to me sometimes."

Jace,  you are a nut.  You crack me up all the time.  Your new obsessions right now are military airplanes, missiles, torpedoes, battleships, and bombs and you LOVE to talk about them even when I don't want to. lol  I think you already know more about these subjects than I do or then I will ever want to know but you still ask me crazy questions all the time that I don't know how to answer.  For example "How much do bombs weigh?"  "Why do some bombs have propellers on them and some don't"  "What kind of airplane is this?"  "What does F15 mean?"  "What is faster, a bomb or a missile?"  You are enjoying 1st grade, especially the last 2 weeks because you have been learning about American History.  You take after grandpa Robert more than you know! :)  Usually I pepper you with questions about how your day was and usually you dodge them or change the subject so you can go play but lately you've wanted to tell me all about the Statue of Liberty, the Eagle, and the American flag.  Last week was apple week and you learned about Johnny Appleseed.  We made a special trip to the store just to get you a yellow apple to take on 'take an apple to school day' and you read me all your books that you made about apples.  Everyday after school we work on handwriting because you take after daddy and your handwriting is not so legible.  It's like pulling teeth but you are getting better.  One thing you do get from me is your artistic ability. You bring me pictures you have drawn completely on your own.  You'll google a subject image and then try to copy it.  I'm always pleasantly surprised.  I love watching you play with your little F15 airplane and I love it when I catch you doing something nice for Brooke without being asked.  You just started t-ball.  We've been trying to go to the baseball fields at least once a week to practice and play as a family.  You have a little cannon for an arm and do great at hitting.  You could work on paying attention in the outfield ... sometimes we catch you sitting down in boredom.  I love the times that you turn into my little boy and just want to snuggle with your mommy and read stories or talk.  I also like taking you to the swimming pool on daddies campus after school.  We take turns throwing your toypedo back and forth and you practice swimming.  You have become a super picky eater lately!!  I don't know what to feed you anymore.  You love cheese pizza, hamburgers, and meat but if I make something with veggies (other than salad with ranch) you groan and pout and tell me it smells HORRIBLE.  I still make you eat it but you scowl at me and give me attitude the whole time.  Speaking of attitude - you've had a lot of it lately.  You could work on being a happier person in general and speaking kind words.  You are in no means a morning person but you do like listening to the theme song to star wars while you eat your pop tart every morning.  I love you, Jace.  You are such a thinker and you are so smart.

A few weeks ago Jace was chosen as Raider as the Week in his 1st grade class room.
We redid his special poster to include pictures of Angry Birds, military fighter jets, missiles, torpedo, bombs, etc.

Here is some of his artwork:

A battleship done with markers.

A missile shooting an enemy airplane.

An apple done with crayons at school.

Chicken n' Waffles

Back in March when I was in the midst of P90x I watched a program on Gladys Knight's Chicken n' Waffles restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia.  P90x is an extreme 3 month nutrition and fitness program.  At the time I knew that chicken n' waffles was out of the question but I told Craig that if I actually finished it then we were going to be having us some Chicken n' Waffles because it sounded SO good to me. lol.  Really I had totally forgotten about it until last week when Craig surprised me with a breakfast date to none other than ... (no we didn't fly to Atlanta to eat at Gladys Knight's restaurant)  Lo Lo's Chicken n' Waffles in Scottsdale.  He had found a Chicken n' Waffles restaurant near by.  SO sweet and thoughtful!  I got KK's special:  3 piece southern style chicken, 2 waffles, grits, and 2 eggs with cheese and onions.  Brooke and I shared and it was still an OVERLOAD of food.  I felt like I left with a brick in my stomach.  It was very delicious and the down south hospitality was great.  Now I can cross off eating Chicken N' Waffles off of my bucket list. :)  If you ever go there get the freshly squeezed lemonade - it was amazing!

I took some pictures with my phone while I was there.  Thanks for such a fun date, Craig.  I Love you!

KK's Special:  3piece southern style chicken, 2 waffles, grits, and eggs with cheese and onions.  Yummy!

I've never tasted better fried chicken in my life!

Brooke loved the eggs and grits the best.

Fire Station Field Trip, Brookie Time, Food, and LIghtning Storms...

 Just after the 10th anniversary of 9/11 Brooke's preschool class had a field trip to the fire station.  She was so excited to finally get to ride on "one of those giant yellow school buses."  I followed the bus over to the fire station just down the street and stayed with her for the first 15min.  I had to leave early so I could give Craig a ride to campus.  We are down to one car and probably will be until Craig gets a job after graduating in December.  The joys of being a student.  I was glad I got to be with her for part of it though.  The firemen gave us a tour of the station.  They showed us where they sleep and cook and hang out.  The kids had all sorts of questions but mostly they wanted to know "Where is your dog ... ya know ... the one with spots."  Because isn't every fire station suppose to have a Dalmatian? lol  He explained that they could no longer have dogs at the station because lots of kids come to see them and if one of them got bitten they would feel sad.  One little boy just kept insisting that they needed a dog and that they should just put a muzzle on it or put a band aide on the persons owie if they got bit.  The fireman kept trying to change the subject but this little guy would not let it go.  It was really funny.  I missed them getting to tour the fire trucks but Brooke told me all about how cool it was.  She said he even let her help turn on the big hose.  She was a little disappointed that they didn't get to see them put out a fire but she knows what to do if her clothes are on fire " STOP, DROP, ROLL"  - she's been telling me all day.  She has been loving preschool.  Ms. Rademacher and Mrs. Turzyn are fabulous with her.  She blows them kisses as she leaves every day.  Today she had show and tell and she took her teddy bear.  She also LOVES the fact that she gets to have chocolate milk EVERY day in preschool at snack time. 

Brooke blowing me a kiss as she got on the bus.

Brooke with her class and teachers.

Fire fighter Brooke to the rescue.

After I pick up Brooke from preschool we get to have 'special' time together.  We did bubble baths and painted nails one day, did play dough another, and today we played "camp out".  Camp out is a game that Brooke made up.  I took a break from the dishes and squeezed my giant pregnant body into her tiny Princess pop up tent (I'm pretty sure capacity is 2 small children) where we had a picnic of pretend food that she packed.  We pretended to change into our jammies and then we thought we heard a bear so we went on a bear hunt. Mostly we were just scared of the bear so we hid in spots all over the house.  I love being a stay at home mom.  I love these special moments with my daughter who is only going to be 4 once.  She has the biggest imagination and I love how she uses her hands when she speaks in order to emphasize what she says.  I love that yesterday my biggest decision was "What kind of cookies am I going to make with my kids today."  and that some days after lunch me and Brooke fall asleep on the couch while watching The Little Mermaid or Tangled.  Naps are lovely. . . especially when you are growing a baby. .. and according to Brooke we both are. lol :)  Hers is kicking up a storm lately.  I love this little girl SO much it hurts! 

Another thing that I love about Brooke is the fact that she LOVES to eat healthy foods.  We make a green smoothie together every day after preschool because she asks for one.  She gobbles up zucchini, spinach, and whatever else I make for dinner with gusto and always tells me "You are the bestest cooker in the whole world!" 

Jace on the other hand has turned into Mr. Picky!  I feel like lately he doesn't like anything but cheese pizza, meat and potatoes, hamburgers, chocolate chip cookies, cake, popcorn, and blueberries.  I have to force the veggies down him.  It's so frustrating.  The other night he told me that my dinner smelled like throw up.  It was pasta with red sauce and a side of sauteed zucchini w/ garlic.  Any advice out there for kids that are picky eaters?!? 

 The other night we went to The Golden Corral as a family.  It was funny to see what everyone picked out.  The kids got to choose what 'they' wanted.  Jace had nachos with cheese sauce, salad drowned in ranch, and cheese pizza.  Brooke chose noodles in cream sauce with a side of cooked carrots, corn, green beans, and brussel sprouts.  Brussel Sprouts - REALLY!  and she ate them too ... and liked it.  Craig had a plate of salad with ranch then like 3 more plates full of just meat... sausage, steak, etc.  I had shrimp pasta with veggies and some fried fish w/ tarter sauce.   It was a fun night. 


 

10 yrs Ago Today

 Time stood still. We all remember ... we will always remember. Every Sep. 11th Craig and I watch the documentaries and news casts and tears still come to my eyes. The hurt and emotion is still there. I will always remember what I was doing that day and how I heard the news. I was a senior in high school. I was getting ready for school while listening to a local radio station. They broke into the music with news that the United States was being bombed. At the time they didn't know that it was actually American Airlines Flight 11 that had crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center killing hundreds of people. I was shocked and scared .. wondering if war was about to start. I ran upstairs and told my parents to turn on the news. I asked my dad is school was canceled. It wasn't. We watched the news that day at school. We watched CNN replay coverage as the second plane, United Airlines Flight 175, also crashed into The World Trade Center's South tower. We saw the explosion at the Pentagon. There was shock and fear and sadness in every one's eyes. I remember being worried that there would be more destruction in large cities across the states and selfishly being relieved that I lived in such a small town. Surely we wouldn't be hit. My classmates and I watched the brave fireman go into those buildings as others filed out, burned ... hurt. We saw debris falling from a hundred stories up and felt sick when we realized that some of that debris was people. We watched the news and saw the towers fall. We saw them crash to the ground and turn into dust. I will never forget that day... and every 9/11 I remember. Close to 3,000 American lives lost between the 4 hijacked flights, The Twin Towers, and the Pentagon. Dads that never came home, wives that were never seen again. My heart goes out to their families. Life is fleeting. We need to take the time to smile, to laugh, to be with our families because it could all end in an instance. I'm thankful for the country that I live in and all the freedoms it offers. I'm thankful that I know that my family can be together forever.

24 Weeks

Pregnancy Update:  24 Weeks

Maternity Clothes:
Well I finally have a bump to show off now.  I've been having fun going through my closet and trying new outfits on.  Thanks for all the new additions to the maternity clothes, Becky! :)  Since my sisters share maternity clothes there are some really cute pieces and some REALLY horrible outfits that I'm sure everyone is too afraid to throw away since they are someone else's. Seriously though, some of these maternity pants need to go.  They look HORRIFIC.

Best Moment This Week:
Taking a relaxing bubble bath without any kids ... besides the one in my tummy.

Best Moment This Month:
Toss up ... The ultrasound was amazing.  It was so fun to see our little guy hangin' out in there sucking his thumb and trying to get his toes in his mouth.  It made it feel so much more 'real', and of course finding out that he's a he.  I'm happy to report that everything looked great on the ultrasound. :)  Also, I had so much fun on the little mini vacation we took to see my family and the Grand  Canyon last week.

Movement:
He's sure an active little guy.  I love feeling the bumps and kicks expect when he's aiming for my bladder.  That kind of hurts.  Jace loves to put his hand on my tummy and feel his baby brother kicking away.  He laughs uncontrollably which seems to get the baby going even more.  I think this little guys is already getting use to the familiar voices in this home. Whenever I feel baby kicking Brooke gets really excited and announces to everyone that her baby is kicking too. She is beyond excited for our babies to come out.

Food Cravings:
I still love a variety of fruit: blueberries, nectarines, apples, orange juice, etc.  I also really like cottage cheese, milk, string cheese, green olives, Claussen pickles, salad, V8, and German chocolate cake... not at the same time though.  The weirdest thing however I think is Barbecue potato chips because I've NEVER been a fan of them in the past.  It's makes me think of when Jace was around a yr. old and whenever we would visit Nani & Grandpa Brammer's house he would crawl over to the pantry area first thing and check the floor to see if anyone had dropped any barbecue potato chips on accident that he could sneak.  It always made me laugh.  Baby boy #2 must love them too.  I'm trying to limit myself since it's not the healthiest snack in the world.

What I Miss:
Picking up toys with ease.  My kids obviously need to get better at picking up after themselves ... especially Brooke.  I'm finding it harder and harder to bend over easily to pick up messes.  I can still see my feet though. wink wink...

Sleep:
First bout with insomnia the other night.  I woke up at 3:30am and couldn't go back to sleep.  There is absolutely NOTHING on tv at that time.  I popped in a movie and Craig found me the next morning on the couch.

What I am Looking Forward To:
The home stretch.  I'm just 4 weeks away from entering the last trimester.

Symptoms:
I found out the hard way that I still need to be taking my anti-nausea medicine every night.  I missed a night and had a barf fest the next day.  Other than that I'm feeling great! :)

Other Thoughts:
I deal with this every pregnancy ... I think most women do ... I have the hardest time dealing emotionally with gaining weight and getting 'fat'.  Okay, I know that I'm not fat, I'm pregnant but it's still hard to look in the mirror and see your body changing in all sorts of weird ways.  Craig is really good at telling me I look beautiful but it's still hard for me to feel that way all of the time.  I obsess a little too much about not going over the weight limit that's recommended for pregnancy.  With Jace I gained 40lbs and with Brooke I gained closer to around 30lbs.  It was so much easier to get back to normal after Brooke.  Dr.s recommend 25-35lbs.  I cringe if I even go slightly over at my monthly Dr. appt.  Anyways, I just needed to vent a little about it.  I know being pregnant is beautiful and whenever I see other pregnant women I always think they look cute.  Some days I just need to cry about it though.

I'm trying to deal with the fact that Craig's break is over now too.  He starts his last trimester of school tomorrow.  He's been such a great help with everything: picking up/dropping off kids, meals, clean up and everything in between.  I'll miss him.  but I'm VERY grateful that he'll just be gone for most of the day and at least I get to see him in the evening and he's not countries away anymore.    

New Nephews

I couldn't resist sharing these cute announcements of my two new nephews. 
It must be the year for boys!  I can't wait for our little guy to join them in this world.