The Past Few Days

We've had a pretty quiet few days at the Braly Casa. Wednesday evening Kaiser started developing a little cough, but he seemed well enough on Thursday for his buddies Koen and Tavin (and Miss Amy, of course) to come over for a playdate we had scheduled the previous week. 

 My baby in a basket, waiting for our friends to arrive. 

We had a nice morning together playing both downstairs in the basement and up in the living room. Koen and Tavin haven't been over to our place since the addition of our new Christmas gifts, so they had the pleasure of meeting the giant T-Rex and excavator, among other toys. :) Amy and the boys stayed to eat lunch, and then we had a bit more time to play before they headed home for naps. Always grateful for a chance to meet up with these three!

 Hungry boys.

 Doing some cooking after lunch.

Sad to see their van pull away.

That evening our entire family planned to go to small group at the Melders'; however, Kaiser woke up from his nap feeling (and sounding) worse, and Brett still needed to pack for a 6am flight he had to catch to Charlotte the next morning. So, Daddy volunteered to stay home with the boys and let Mommy get out on her own to enjoy time with friends. I was so glad I went; we had a great discussion about the previous weekend's sermon, and afterward I had a really nice time catching up with a few of the other girls I've missed lately.

Friday I kept Kaiser home from school, as his cough sounded nasty and he was running a low-grade fever. We opted for a morning in, during which Kaiser played "puzzlemaster".

 Finishing up the alphabet train.

 Moving on to construction trucks.

Meanwhile, Porter did what Porter does best: find random objects around the house and use them as sources of entertainment.

 "Does carrying around an empty bottle of Old Spice body wash make me more manly?"

What, doesn't everyone's kid like to play with a travel potty seat?

Around 11:00, I finally decided we needed to venture out to Aldi for milk and bananas (and about 20 other things I didn't realize I needed until I got there). Among those items was Campbell's chicken noodle soup for my little sickling's lunch.

 "Mmm, mmm good!"

 "What, no soup for me?"

Both Kaiser and Porter went down for nice, long naps, and I even took a 20-30 minute doze myself before hopping back up to do some cleaning. That night a fellow ortho wife and friend of mine, Kim, was coming over with her 2-month-old, Jackson, to eat dinner and visit. (Kim's hubby was with Brett in NC at the fellowship interview, so we decided if they were together, their better halves should get to hang out, too!) While we waited for Miss Kim and Jackson, the boys and I played down in the basement. 

 Venturing into the ball tent.

 On the outside looking in.

 Spontaneous dance party while playing Legos.

 Hard to really appreciate his moves in a still shot. :)

Kim picked up a pizza on her way over, but we ended up holding off on feeding ourselves, what with her needing to nurse, me needing to feed and bathe the boys, and such. It was over an hour before I had Porter tucked in bed and Kaiser quietly watching The Land Before Time, she had Jackson sound asleep in his car seat, and we finally felt free to sit down at the kitchen table and enjoy our meal. Then I put Kaiser to bed and came back into the living room so we could chat some more. I got to snuggle her teeny-tiny babe for a while before Kim finally decided they should head home. Didn't get any pictures of our time together, but it was so nice and we hope to do it again on one of the guys' other interview weekends!

Once our guests had left and all was quiet, I ended my night by diving into these treats:

Always hungry for ice cream.

A different kind of hunger...but just as addictive!

Saturday I had the misfortune of waking up with shooting pain going from my lower back down my right leg. What a way to start the day! (Back in 2004, I ruptured a disc and ended up having surgery to repair it. The past few years, it seems that every 4-6 months or so I do something to tweak my back again and end up in this state. Darn you, nerves!) Anyway, between my pathetic physical condition, Kaiser's continued congestion/cough, and the fact that the weather looked like this...

Rain, rain, go away! (Seriously, please go away.)

...I knew we were bound to have another stay-at-home day. I have to be honest: This mommy wasn't winning any parenting awards today. (Not that she normally does.) I was (am) hurtin' something awful, so I pretty much took advantage of every opportunity to let the boys play independently while I camped out on the couch with a heating pad glued to my back. Here are a few peeks into our "sick/in pain" day:

 All decked out in Cars attire and watching Fast Trains.

 P's household object of affection today: a small bottle of baby shampoo.

We managed to make it to naptime without going totally insane, which I felt was quite an accomplishment considering the circumstances. Before heading upstairs to rest, Porter wanted to try on Mommy's snow boots, and of course, Kaiser had to take a turn, as well.

 These boots are made for walkin'...

...and takin' pictures, too.

Apparently our "do-nothing" morning wore the boys out; Porter slept for 3 1/2 hours, and Kaiser (whose sickness was definitely a contributing factor) came close to that. I finally woke my big boy up at 5:20 so that we could have dinner and a relatively on-schedule night. Leftover pizza and baked ziti meant I didn't have to cook anything but veggies, which was a relief. Then it was to the tub to clean off their tomato-y faces.

 This dude was a trooper while Mom & Bro were feelin' crummy.

Ever since Wednesday night, when we were supposed to watch March of the Penguins but had to nix it due to Kaiser's bad behavior, he's been begging me to see it. I told him we could go ahead and watch some -- but not all -- of it tonight once he and Porter were in their pjs.

Love this documentary.

 Kaiser watching the beginning of the "march".

 Porter enjoyed watching for about 15 minutes before it was time for bed.

 Then I came back out to share the couch with my penguin enthusiast.

So excited to see the baby penguins hatch!

A bit before 8:00, Kaiser needed to go potty, so I thought that was a good time to pause the video. I said that we could watch the rest at some point tomorrow, so that Daddy could see some of it, too. Then it was off to bed for my sniffly boy, who only talked to himself for a few minutes before entering Dreamland. Since then, Mommy's resumed her spot atop the heating pad to blog and get started reading this...

That's right. Finished the first, now on to the second!

Brett's flight lands at midnight, and I couldn't be more excited to see my hubby. The boys and I look forward to a family day with Daddy tomorrow before getting our week started. Hopefully my back will get with the program and realize that this momma can't function with excruciating pain!!!