Easter Weekend 2011

We had a lovely weekend. My mom came Thursday night so she could babysit on Friday (THANKS MOM!!).  Friday night we took my mom out to dinner at Logan's. Kenley loves to go out to eat. It keeps her entertained and she loves to talk and wave at all the people. You could also hear the music so she put on quite a cute little show "dancing" in her chair.  Clay caught part of it.


Saturday, my dad came up to join us and we celebrated our Easter since we weren't sure what the weather would be like on Sunday and Saturday's weather was very pleasant. We gave Kenley her Easter basket which included a bubble maker and we had to try it out immediately.  I also had to put her in her cute little dress. She was just adorable!!!  Mom and Dad also got her some super cute sandals but she refused to wear them yet.

 We also enjoyed a nice lunch of grilled cheeseburgers, overnight salad, baked bean, chips, dip and peach cobbler. We all ate too much but it tasted wonderful.  Later that afternoon most of us took our naps to recover and then we headed over to the hotel where my mom and dad were staying to hit the pool. Kenley loved it!!! She is quite the little water bug and enjoys it. She wanted us to let her go and she loved jumping in and floating around. We will definitely have to get her in the water as much as we can this summer. (I will post these pictures as soon as I steal them from my mom. )

Then today we went out to a nice breakfast at a place called Wild Berries. They hired one of their employees to dress as a pink Easter Bunny and let me tell you Kenley did NOT like it. He snuck up and scared her after we got there and I swear she was going to jump out of that high chair. I wish I would have had the video camera rolling because although it scared her, it was hilarious. This bunny was also a unicyclist so later we went outside to watch him ride around the parking lot on his unicycle. She wasn't as scared then as long as he kept his distance. Then today my mom took her for a long wagon ride while Clay and I cleaned up the Hotel Brockman and later we Skyped with Grandma and Grandpa B and Val and Sophie. It was a wonderful weekend!

Happy Birthday Clay!!

Today is my wonderful husband's birthday. I won't tell you how old he is but I'll give you 33 reasons (in no particular order) why I love him so much.

1. He is a very patient man (and this compliments my impatience rather well.)
2. He loves baseball and gets so excited watching it. Makes me smile when he is in there cheering and clapping like a little boy.
3. He is a great husband! I can hardly believe its been 7 1/2 years. The time just flies.
4. He is an outstanding father!! I love watching him interact with Kenley everyday. It melts my heart.
5. He has green eyes and a great smile.
6. He values his family.
7. He has a great family which means I have great in-laws (and for that I am very blessed.)
8.  He gets along with my parents too, which also makes me lucky.
9. He is a provider and works hard to make sure we have what we need.
10. He enjoys his job and tells me about his day.
11. He enjoys a good meal. (We Brockmans love to eat!)
12. He is a softy for animals (much like me. We will always have some sort of furry creature in our home.)
13. He is a planner (but leaves the little details to me which I thrive on.)
14. He is smart. I am so proud of him for going back to school for his Masters so that he could change jobs and do something he loves everyday.
15. He has a lot of useless knowledge. I don't know where he gets it.
16. He knows it's hard for me to say I'm wrong or I'm sorry and yet he puts up with me. Thanks hon!
17. He loves to vacation where its warm and sunny like Florida and enjoys the beach.
18. He has strong arms for hugs after a long day.
19.  He seems to know just when I need a hug.
20. He drives most of the way on our long car trips and doesn't mind if I sleep the whole way.
21. He is shy around new people.
22. He lets me make most of the decorating choices for our home (and he likes what I pick out.)
23. He has very strong values of right and wrong.
24. He enjoys a cold beer while grilling out. It just seems so relaxing.
25. He reads this blog.
26. He doesn't think I'm crazy.
27. He likes to budget and "run the numbers." He has all sorts of spreadsheets with regards to building our new house and it helps keep us focused and on track.
28.  He likes to take walks and enjoy the weather.
29. He is quiet.
30. He is sweet and always tries to surprise me even if I ruin it.
31. He is a great listener.
32. He loves to stay in and watch movies. Makes for a nice relaxing weekend.
33. He makes me happy.

So here's to you Clay....HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I love you!

Catching up again

My what a busy few weeks we have had here.  We have made many decisions on the new house and it's starting to move along again. Today we had windows and they were working on the siding.

I'm hoping that tomorrow when we go back out there that even more will be done ;o) Today we went out to settle the biggest stress we have had thus far with the new Hotel Brockman. We discovered last weekend that they put the sliding door in the wrong spot and cut our living room short by about 5 ft. Needless to say this did not make us happy and I have stressed over it this past week. However yesterday they fixed it immediately and all is well. The living room window was also cut differently but after today's discussion we are leaving it the same which will allow more wall space for the couch and still allow all the light.  The electrician does have some more work since he now has to move all the living room lights and the exterior lights from the patio door as well as the "eat in" area and a few other things, but I am much happier now that it is fixed and we should be on the smooth sailing track again!!

In other news, my wonderful in-laws have returned from wintering in FL. They spent a few days in town and babysat Kenley. Clay and I aren't sure who had more fun, grandma and grandpa or Kenley. They took a lot of walks and few trips to the park to enjoy the lovely weather we have been having lately. Kenley enjoys the swings still and is starting to really like the slides. (In the last picture, Kenley was picking me some pretty purple flowers.)

It sure is nice to have them back in IL! We missed them over the winter!!!

And finally for your complete entertainment, we were watching TV the other night and watching the show "Bert the Conqueror." (Good show!)  Bert was going to participate in the wife carrying contest in Maine. I joked that I wanted Clay to try to carry me like they did for that competition. He said he couldn't do it and I figured he could so we tried it. My in-laws were there to catch the action. Without further adieu, I give you the Estonian wife carry in 3 shots: (WARNING! the first shot isn't my best angle)

I was laughing so hard I could have peed my pants and Clay was worried he threw his back out, but it was all in good fun. We decided we weren't quite ready for the competition and would definitely have to start practicing. After all what man doesn't want to win his wife's weight in beer and 5x her weight in cash? Who wants to trek to ME next year for the contest?

I guess there is never a dull moment at the Hotel Brockman, so as always, stay tuned!

Unwanted house guests

Back when I started this post (last weekend) here is what the Hotel Brockman looked like:

And here is what the master bath room fan looked like:

And the vent runs across the room and out the side of the house:

While we were showing the house to the in-laws we heard and noticed something a little strange. The venting was "chirping" and "wiggling." Upon further investigation we found this: (LOOK CLOSELY)

That's right a bird decided to build a nest in the venting. The momma bird kept flying in and out.



We were told they would change the venting and get it cleaned out before they capped it but they would prob wait for the birdies to leave naturally. However when we went to the house they were siding and already had it capped.

So needless to say, I hope the birds were properly removed. I will be double checking for sure and there are a few less baby birds in the world so my house could move forward. Oops!

15 months

We had Kenley's 15 month check up on Friday and it was much smoother than the Dr visit we had Monday.  Kenley lost a little weight and is under 21lbs again. She had been up to 21lbs 6oz but she's back to 20lbs 11oz which only puts her about the 20th percentile. However she is 32 inches long and that's the 90th percentile. LONG and LEAN I guess.  She seems to be right on track developmental and put on quite the show for the Dr. She survived her 2 shots and then headed back to the sitter for naptime since Clay and I had a flooring appt for the new house.  Had a pretty good weekend this weekend but she isn't napping well lately which makes some days a little long. However the nice weather today allowed for an after dinner wagon ride which always lifts our spirits.

Picture

It took several attempts (10 to be exact) but I was able to catch a picture of Kenley and Clay on Opening Day in their Cardinals gear.

Where has the week gone?

Now, I'm not complaining when I say this, but "How in the world is it already Friday?" Where did the week go?

Last Saturday Clay and I hired Grandma Coleman to babysit and we headed out to dinner with our friends Lissa and Nathan. We had a wonderful time and a few after dinner drinks.

However after a lovely evening out, I returned home to a not so happy child. My mom was rocking her. She woke up coughing and unable to breathe. I did my best to get her back to bed but it was long after 1am before I succeeded and I had to let her scream even then. I felt bad.  Sunday we could tell she was "sick" but it seemed just like a bad cold. She had a runny nose and was just overall fussy. She didn't nap but we survived the day.
Monday, however, was a different story.... It was a LONG and torturous day. It started at 5am with a screaming baby. Sitting rocking her in the dark in her room, I could tell her breathing was super labored and she was struggling. She was running a fever of 102.6 and just plain didn't feel good. You could see it in her eyes. I called the dr on call after the office opened (our dr is out on maternity leave) and they got us an appt at 1120am. Around 10am Kenley was overly fussy and antsy so I decided to go for a car ride in hopes she would sleep. But it seemed everytime she almost made it to sleep, she would cough and wake herself up. Poor baby! We drove around until it was time to go to the dr and of course she fell asleep the last 10 mins in the car.

After getting to the dr's office ON TIME and called back to the room at 1125, we were forced to wait. It was almost 1220 before the dr came in. I was so frustrated. It was hot in that room and Kenley had been up since 5am, not napped, and now not eaten lunch because I would have sworn we were going to be home by noon from a 1120 appt time. (Our dr's office is usually so prompt).  However with the dr finally there and checking Kenley out she decided the breathing was labored and wanted to send us next door to the hospital for a chest xray. WHAT?? UGH!

SO Kenley and I trekked next door and registered and then waited for the xray. She seemed to be in okay spirits but I worried about her being hungry. Luckily the nurse had given me a cup with a straw so she was drinking some water.  Now here is the fun part....

A chest Xray for a 1yr old.  It looks so torturous. They sit on this seat that looks like a bicycle seat and then they raise their arms over their head and close these 2 plastic shields around them TIGHT with only an opening for the head.  Needless to say, Kenley did NOT like this. Here is what it looked like *but image the kid in the picture SCREAMING and crying and trying to escape.

After the chest xray we headed BACK TO THE DR to wait longer. Then we got the fun news that while the chest xray was clear we would need to do some breathing treatments.  OH a scary noisy machine and a mask are not things that a TIRED 1year likes, but we survived and eventually (at 2pm) we headed on our way with a nebulizer, a prescription for our ear infection, and a prescription for the breathing treatment solution.  Kenley was asleep before we got out of the parking garage so I decided to drive around as long as possible. I did the drive thru for her prescriptions and I did McDonald's drive thru for food. That double cheeseburger has never tasted so good!

After about an hour of driving she woke up. I could tell she was still tired but when we got inside she refused to sleep so I just cuddled on the chair and watched some Mickey Mouse Club with her. 

We survived Monday night but I knew she wasn't sleeping very well. Tuesday Clay stayed home with her and she started to show some signs of improvement. Tuesday night was even a bit better, but she still needed more recovery time, so Wednesday we recruited Grandma Coleman again. They had a nice day together and Kenley took a 2.5 hour nap that afternoon. She awoke a different girl and has been happy and back to herself ever since!!! WHOO HOO!! We survived another bout of illness and 4 very long days.

So yesterday (Thursday) she headed back to the sitter and it was opening day baseball so she sported a Cardinals tshirt. (Pictures to come when I get home.) It was super cute because 3 other little girls at the sitter also were sporting STL gear. I picked her up and she finished watching the end of the game with daddy when we got home. They may have lost but she looked so darn cute in her gear.

Now it's Friday and we have her 15 month check up this afternoon. Then she will go back to the  sitter's while Clay and I do more house stuff. I have a feeling the next few months will be super busy with house stuff and I may find myself frequently asking "Where has the week gone?" However as long as Kenley stays healthy, I will be much happier.