A Rock-in Good Time

Our vacation crew was reunited on Friday when the Rocks came for an overnight visit before Papa and Grandma returned to Denver on Saturday. Of course hysterical laughter, great conversation, and some collective napping were on the agenda!

Aunt DeeDee always brings Brady super cute presents. This time it was two Dr. Seuss books, a "Rock Star" (get it?) shirt, and Mr. Potato Head! (whoohoo- I Loved this dude when I was a kid!)

The group indulged it's shortest member and we all went to the Leesburg Executive Airport Open House on Saturday morning. There was obviously lots to look at- as evidenced by Brady's point in so many pictures.

Day Laborers

It only took 3.5 months and visits from all the grandparents (to either assist with the actual painting, assist in keeping Brady busy, or both!) to finally get the back deck re-painted. Not bad. :)

Genetics

It's in the genes...three generations of handymen put their heads together and all worked to fix our kitchen sink leak this afternoon.

And if you've ever had a meal with Brett, you know this is in the genes too. LOL! Here's Mommy's Little Monster enjoying some yogurt and strawberry dessert (via self feed) just before we took advantage of the free babysitters and went out for birthday dinner. So darn cute.

Batter Up!

We went to Target today and with the accompaniment of four adults, it turned in to another indoor playground. Brett and Brady had a father-son catch right there in the sports aisle. ;p

Happy 33rd Birthday Mommy!

Yup, Brett and I were born exactly one week apart from each other. :) It was a great birthday that began with love and presents from my boys...sweet cards that showed how thoughtful they are and the gift of clean (house cleaners for a year). OMG! Love, thoughtfulness, and cleanliness...does it get any better than that?! AWESOME!
Our PAPA-razzi captured us playing ring-around-the-rosie this morning.

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

Grandma and Papa arrived for a week long visit this evening. One of the first things they did was give Daddy his birthday present. It was a remote control flip car for ages 3+. haha! Awesome, but now I have to think of another present for Brady's 2nd birthday this December. They got the exact thing for their (33 year old) son's birthday that I was planning on getting for my (2 year old) son's birthday. ha! Parenting...it's all about sacrifice, right Daddy? As Brady would say, "Share!" (as in share your birthday and your birthday present with me!)

This thing is super fun and we're ALL enjoying it...even Romey who barks and chases it around. :)

Problem Solving 101

Brady is in this super fun stage where he is learning and using more words daily. He talks Constantly. Some of it is still random babble, but much of it is really understandable. His daycare providers, our friends, and random strangers often comment on how clear his pronunciation is and how much he talks. (He seems to take after his mama....talking all the time!) ;p

His ability to identify and solve problems continues to develop. (That's something that he gets from his Daddy for sure.) Here's the latest application of these skills that I find hysterical. First off, on Sunday while Brett was taking a shower, I noticed a leak in our kitchen ceiling seemingly from the master shower. Brady noticed it too. He said, "Uh oh! Raining." Then he paused and said, "House?" with rising intonation like a question. Excellent observation son. It IS raining INSIDE our house and yup, that's weird. Today a plumber came to the house to diagnose the problem. During this process, he cut a hole in our kitchen ceiling to get access to the pipes. It was the First thing Brady noticed when we got home. His eyes got big and he points to it and says, "Wha Happin?" I was cracking up. He then continued to ask his question every time he looked up and that made me laugh harder. Yup, he's good at problem identification.

We stopped at Harris Teeter on the way home from daycare today and as usual Brady got a "noon" (balloon...which is a greatly improved version of his previous "kyoooon"). I give the same speech every time he brings one of these home. It includes specific instructions to Not let it go in the two-story family room. These instructions are Never followed. Today was no exception. Brady released his balloon and watched it float up to the ceiling and then said, "Mommy help! Noon!" I stretched my hands up and told him I couldn't reach it. He looked at me for only a second, but I could totally see the wheels turning in his head. He says, "Yadd-uh!" (ladder...which is what he calls the little stool we keep in the bathroom so he can access the sink to wash his hands) and runs off to the bathroom. He uses the stool all the time. He'll carry it from the sink to the office chair when he wants to sit at my desk. He'll carry it to the coffee table when he needs a boost to climb on top of it. Today it was to be utilized to retrieve a balloon that was 24 feet up. Hilarious! The basic concept was there- you'll need a "boost" to reach something high up. But dude, your 8 inch stool is not going to help you...or me. However, I do applaud your thinking! While he tested his hypothesis, I sat on the couch filming him. He quickly realized that he just wasn't tall enough, but thinks perhaps I am??? So he gets me off the couch to give it a go. Dude is a RIOT to be around these days.

Happy 33rd Birthday Daddy!

After opening presents and playing this morning, we went to IHOP for breakfast so Daddy could get his ham-egg-cheese melt (of course!).

How stinkin' cute are my boys?!

These pictures crack me up. It looks like Brady is sad because Daddy has highjacked his coloring placemat. Based on previous experience, that was highly probable. But actually Brady was just content watching Daddy color...I mean, it's his birthday- we'll let him do what he wants today. :)

Then we went shopping to return all (yes, All!) the gifts we got for Daddy because they didn't fit or weren't the right style. Oh well...we had fun walking around and shopping. Brady again had a monkey on his back. :p

After we put Brady down to bed and had Meghan come over, we headed out to Bonefish for dinner so Daddy could get his Bang Bang Shrimp. You know we just had to take a few timer shots before we left though.