Two Weeks Later... :)

Sorry folks, I slipped last week and forgot to blog! Since I don't have a whole lot to say, I will let the pictures do the talking! :)

Mother's Day Weekend-My first as a a Mommy of my two amazingly, wonderful children!!! We went to The Butterfly House and Faust Park as a family of four on Saturday and spent Sunday's brunch at Fleming's with my parents, my brother and sister-in-law and my Gram.

                

The weather has been amazing here for the past few weeks-in the mid to upper 70s-low 80s--we are enjoying all of the time outside that we can, since we know it will be in the upper 90s before we know it! Our fearless Brady loves his backyard playset and will climb up the ladder and slides down, completely on his own! Next week marks Brady's final week at his school for the summer and he will begin at a new school in mid-August.

This past weekend we decided on a whim to go to the Lake.  The weather was great and I was able to start my tan. :) Brady had a great time on the boat! It was Aubrey's first time on the boat and she wasn't sure what to think. The kids also enjoyed playing in the baby pool together and Chris hung up the baby swing on the dock for Aubrey. She smiled almost the entire time she was swinging. We are headed back to the Lake on Friday through Monday and will get to celebrate the second to final weekend of the single Nathan and single Meg before they tie the knot! Yay! :)

P.S.-Two and a half weeks until Nathan and Meg's wedding!
P.P.S.-Potty training has kicked off again and B is AWESOME!!! :)

Birthday Boy, Brady, Baby Babble, Belly Giggles & Bandages (try saying that that three times, fast!)

Birthday Boy:

Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday Dear Chris!
Happy Birthday to You!

We got to celebrate my favorite person this weekend, without whom I would not have my second favorite people--yes, of course they are tied! :) Chris grilled out pollo asada and carne asada for fajitas on Cinco de Mayo with all of the fixin's, and we had cupcakes from Sarah's Cakes that were phenomenal! While we weren't able to go out to celebrate Chris's 33 years, it was nice to be at home with our little family. Chris has done so much for me this year, that I hope his 34th year is a little slower paced than the end of his 33rd year. I love you, C, you are such an amazing husband and father and I hope that you had a wonderful 33rd birthday! XOXO

Daddy and Brady :)

Brady:

Ahh...Brady, my sweet little, very active boy, gets more and more of a personality every day and is HILARIOUS!! I love how everything he does he begins with "Mommy, may I please _______"-even if I tell him no, he has already started it. We are really working on manners with Brady-he is pretty good about saying "please" and "thank you," but we are working on consistency. The potty training thing is going to begin again in full force when Brady is home with Mommy, in June! There's times where he shows an interest, and other times where he could care less. At this point, Brady is 37 pounds and is all arms and legs! Chris always says that he thinks he is going to be tall like his Uncle Buzz...we will see! Brady has started talking about his birthday being in June and what he's going to do for his birthday party-it's so cute to see him excited about it. Boo Bear started with an ear infection this weekend. It is hard seeing him so uncomfortable, but it is nice that he is at the point where he can tell us what hurts. Bring on the amoxicillin....

Baby Babble:

Aubrey will be nine months on Sunday (Mother's Day) and I cannot believe it! I was saying to Chris last night that I do not remember Brady's first year flying by like this, but he said he remembered it going by quickly. This weekend Chris received probably the best gift that he could receive-Aubrey's first word-"Da Da." Now, I have tried to convince him that she's not really saying "Da Da," but it's pretty apparent when she looks in his general direction and says it and guess what, "Da Da" is pretty thrilled! She is the sweetest baby and is such a little snuggler! I love it when I am laying on the couch and she falls asleep on my chest-those are the moments that I really try to treasure, since they go by so quickly and then I want them back and pretty soon you have a 37 pounder who doesn't spend as much time snuggling! :) Aubrey is starting to hold on to the couch and stand when we put her up there and is even getting on her knees trying to pull herself up! :) Yay for milestones! :)

Belly Giggles:

Aubrey is really starting to get a kick out of her big brother! It is the cutest thing to see them belly laughing together. Brady gets so tickled by his sister when she is crawling and when he starts laughing at her, she turns her head and starts giggling back at her. Likewise, he also tries to take care of his sister when she's upset about something, he is such a great big brother. It's an awesome thing to see the beginning of the sibling relationship! :)

Bandages:

I guess that leaves me? :) I'm still in recovery mode from my accident. Rehabbing, meeting with my orthopedist, and now I have a plastic surgeon! Fun stuff!!!

A Fun Weekend with My Loves!!

Let me begin this post by thanking everyone for your kind words regarding my "accident." It has literally been a pain and I am so ready to be back to my "old" self--but this weekend proved to be a lot of fun even if I am moving at a snail's pace!

The nurse came out to the house and I had physical therapy on Friday, which both the nurse and P.T. said they think that I am doing very well for being a week and a half out from the accident. Friday night, Chris and I had a last minute date night and went to John Mineo's! It was a great way to celebrate Chris's upcoming 33rd birthday (next weekend!) and a hospital-free week.  My mom said that she would keep the kids for us for the night, since we weren't able to go on our Chicago mini-vacay. Hopefully we will get to make the trip up some time in the near future--but for now our dinner together (alone) was very nice and the food was delicious, as always!

Saturday morning, Chris and I got up and went to my orthopedist appointment-which was great. The doc said that he thinks my leg is healing nicely and suggested I go to a plastic surgeon to have her check it out in terms of some of the area that is dented in--yuck, I know! We picked the kiddos up after the appointment and went with my mom to the tux shop for Brady and Chris to get measured for the wedding. Brady was so cute with a little tux jacket on and I can't wait to see him with the real thing on for the wedding on June 9th! I already know that Chris will look great in his-since I've seen him in tuxes many times over the past 11 years! After the tux fitting, Chris, Brady, Aubrey and I went to a few car dealerships to look at (drum roll, please) minivans! :) I know they are a little corny, but I am SUPER excited about getting a minivan!! :) :) We just have to figure out which will be the best fit for our family. Saturday night, we relaxed at home, enjoyed some Chipotle and that was pretty much it--I still have to take it pretty easy, since the pain is still between an eight and nine on the ten point scale :( ! I can't wait for it to get better-the healing process is already taking too long for me!

On Sunday, the "grown ups"...lol...Chris and I, went to church and Brady and Aubrey went to Sunday school and the nursery, respectively. After church, my leg was on fire and Chris dropped Aubrey and I off at home where we snuggled and took a nap together, while the boys went to the grocery store. After our nap, I got snapshot happy and took a ton of pics of Aubrey and Brady, after his nap. Chris spent a chunk of Sunday researching minivans and I took some pics of Aubrey and Chris on the internet. Sunday ended with Chevy's with my Mom (my Dad was in Vegas for my brother's bachelor party this weekend) and watching TV with Chris and Aubrey, after Brady went to bed.

 Tomorrow, I head to my general practitioner to have my follow-up for my leg (advised by hospitalist to follow-up) and then I have physical therapy! This week we are hoping to have a chance to test drive some minivans!! I am looking forward to a week that I hope begins to bring me some relief.

 Bonus: One of the best moments of this weekend happened about an hour ago-we were saying our nightly prayers with our son when he looked up at us and said "God bless you. God bless you, Mommy. God bless you, Daddy." It was absolutely AWESOME!

The Things You Do for Your Kids (aka Mommy Got Run Over By a Honda)

It's been over a week since I last posted and A LOT has happened. Looking back over the past few months I have been asking myself would I change some things? It would have been nice to not have gone through all of the surgeries and test stuff that my body has been through since the beginning of February, but it has definitely made me a stronger person...and perhaps given me more of a sense of humor--especially when it comes to other things happening to me, even if they seem a bit traumatic.

Before I begin writing about what happened last Wednesday afternoon, I would like to ask all of my fellow bloggers and parents out there--what would you do if you were in my situation?

Last Wednesday, Chris and I had discussed going to look at cars in the evening with Brady and Aubrey. We are just beginning to look and thought that we would just go to a showroom or two for fun. Aubrey and I picked Brady up from school and I knew when we got home that A had a dirty diaper and called Chris ahead of time to ask if he would run her in the house and change her, to which he agreed that he would. I pulled the Honda into the driveway, put it into park (or so I thought) and turned the key and left it in the ignition. I was headed to grab Brady's juice (he was still in his carseat in the back of the car) off of the back of the other car and the Honda began rolling backwards. I ran and half jumped into the car as it rolled down the driveway. As it continued to roll my leg got pulled out of the car and both legs got pulled under the car and run over, as the car ended up in our neighbor's side yard.

Chris was yelling at me the entire time, "Get away from the car!" as he was holding Aubrey, but all I could think about was that my son, my baby was in the backseat of the car and if anything would happen to him, I would not be able to live with myself.

Brady was great and he had no idea what happened to his Mommy. He kept asking me if he could kiss my boo-boos...but I told him he could give me a kiss on the cheek. Chris took me and the kids to MoBap to meet my Dad with the kids to pass them off to him, while Chris took me to the ER (yet again). On the ride to MoBap-I didn't know whether to cry or laugh--so much has happened in the last few months, that I almost found it comical that one more thing could have happened. The techs did x-rays and there were NO FRACTURES in either leg--thank God! They did end up keeping me on Wednesday and Thursday night for pain meds and physical therapy and I got to go home on Friday.  I have had BJC Home Healthcare (since I maxed out my deductible and out-of-pocket) coming out to the house, a nurse came out on Saturday and comes out tomorrow and I will have a physical therapist coming to my house in the next few days. I head to the orthopedist on Friday for a follow-up and to more than likely schedule an MRI to check for ligament damage. I know this is going to be a lengthy recovery process and it is frustrating, but I will get through it with God's and my family's help, support and love.

I have told Chris that I will forever tell Brady that his Mommy saved his life, even if the car ended up on the grass!

If you would like to see my pretty legs-check out the pics below!

Right Leg-yes, those are tire marks!

Left Leg

My lucky turtle-that my Mom thought that I need to carry around with me.

The Calm (Before the storm)! :)

It's always nice having weekends without plans, and this weekend was one of those! Aubrey turned eight months old on Friday and girlfriend is getting big and has quite a sassy personality! She has started making this grunting-moaning sound when she is not pleased with the outcome of something and is our little roll-y poly-rolling EVERYWHERE!  We have to be very careful about Brady's toys when they are out, because she will put them in her mouth and she's gagged a few times on the little toys!

Chris was home from Wednesday through Friday with Roto-Rooter virus, and I am so glad that he is better! On Saturday, we decided to go check out the J's other location-which was awesome! They have an indoor mini-waterpark for kids and our brave little man went up the stairs for the water slide and slid down at least five times. After spending a little time in the pool (and I do mean a little time-because it was lightning and thundering outside, they made us get out!), we went to a local deli and then home for nap time.

Saturday night, Chris went and picked up Chevy's for dinner and that was pretty much it. On Sunday morning, we got up and went to church. The sermon was all about "Momentum" and not dwelling on the past-which made me think about all of the times I have dwelled on the past and how God helps us move on in our lives. It was a sermon, that I feel everyone would be able to relate to and learn from and apply to their lives. Steak & Shake (my tummy is still recovering), Wal-Mart and Nordstrom followed and then lots of playing at home!!

So this weekend was definitely the calm before the exciting storm begins!

I feel like we have something going on almost every weekend for the next month and a half-which is another reason why it was nice that we had a weekend off! We are entering a wonderful and exciting time for Nathan and Meg! They are getting married June 9th! This weekend I have a bridal shower that my aunts are having for Meg, that I am so excited to go to--since I wasn't able to attend the one that I helped host due to my sphincterotomy and hospital stay.  Next weekend, Chris and I take off to Chicago for a long weekend retreat away from the kiddos, which I think will be very fun. :) The following weekend is Chris's 33rd birthday weekend and also Meg's St. Louis bachelorette party! The remainder of May will take care of itself with helping my Mom and Dad get ready for the rehearsal dinner, helping Meg with last minute wedding details, Aubrey's smiles and giggles and Brady's final month of school before the fall! This year is flying and it is hard to believe that after a year and a half engagement, that the wedding is almost here! Yay!

Rotavirus (aka Roto-Rooter) and Our Easter Bunnies!

Brady had started not feeling well during my last blog post and by not feeling well, I mean that the poor little man could not keep anything in him--it went right through him. It was messy and nasty, but I am glad that I got a lot of snuggle time in with him. On Saturday night, we took him to the pediatric ER just to make sure that he wasn't dehydrated and to confirm that it was in fact Rotavirus. You would have thought that we had brought a well child to the ER with how Brady was bouncing off the walls and he was extremely polite to the nurses, doctor and medical student who came in to listen to him and check him out--telling them all "thank you." Unfortunately with Rotavirus, it's a waiting game and you can't give little ones anything-other than Pedialyte to help restore electrolytes and prepare to change a lot of awful diapers--these were the worst I have ever seen/smelled. THANK GOD he is finally feeling better after five days of it and we are glad to have our sweet, playful Brady back!

Friday night, Chris and I were able to get out of the house for a little while and went to dinner and a movie with Nathan and Meg. The movie was very funny! We saw "American Reunion"-the finale to the "American Pie" series of funny, yet gross flicks. It was really nice having a double date with them, and getting to go out with my hubby! Date nights are few and far between these days and it makes us very excited for our upcoming trip to Chi-town.

Since our little guy was not feeling well, we had to forgo church this Easter weekend. We had big plans of going to church and an Easter egg hunt/BBQ following at church on Saturday, but things don't always work out the way you would like them to work out. On Sunday late morning, we went to my parents for Easter brunch and an egg hunt for B. It was a nice, laid back Easter (spent mostly outside) and we enjoyed a family nap when we got home.

 I don't think that I have mentioned this yet, but Spring is my second favorite season-next to Fall! We have been very lucky this year that our Winter was extremely Spring-like and our Spring has started out beautifully. We have spent at least a little time outside every day and have loved it!

Last night, Chris put up the baby swing on our playground set and we pushed Aubrey in it for the first time and she seemed to get a big kick out it. Brady enjoyed playing soccer and baseball with Chris outside. We were able to get some really cute pics from Chris's phone-since of course my camera battery died just as I was starting to take some shots.

Brady returned to school today and I took Aubrey to the J, while I took a Yoga class. I LOVE IT! I feel incredible after I get out of these classes and Friday I am taking Cardio Ballet Barre! I was supposed to go to it last Friday, but was taking care of a sick kiddo. He's going to school again tomorrow and then I am taking B and A to The Magic House on Friday!!! I am really looking forward to it! :) Talking with a friend, we may take the kids to the zoo next week-depending on how warm it is outside. Alright, I need to go feed Brady and Aubrey (Chris isn't feeling well now--I am hoping that he doesn't have the Roto-Rooter virus!!)