Just Like Old Times

Today we had an unexpected but very welcome visitor at our house: Kaiser's friend, Koen! Koen's daddy, Doug, called this morning to let me know that his and Amy's 6-month-old, Tavin, had been admitted to Children's Hospital with pneumonia. Bless his little heart! Amy was there with him, but Doug needed someone to watch Koen while he spent some time there, too. Brett is back in Oklahoma this weekend for a wedding, and Kaiser and I were home alone with no plans set in stone for the day, so I said we would love to have Koen come play with us! Although Koen spent several Wednesdays with us before his baby brother was born, and we sometimes are lucky enough to get to see him multiple times a week, I think it's been since Kaiser's 1st birthday party that he was at our house! Kaiser and I (and Berkeley, too!) were very excited to have him back with us for a few hours of the day.

Doug dropped off Koen around 10:30am, and not long after he arrived I suggested that we all go outside to play with Kaiser's new water table (a fabulous gift from YaYa that was just delivered a couple of days ago!). The weather forecast is calling for thunderstorms nonstop from late this afternoon all the way through Monday morning, so I thought it would be great to get as much sunshine as we could before being cooped up inside. Man, was it HOT out there! I was tempted to fill up the pool and let them swim, too, but Koen didn't have his swimsuit with him. They had a blast splashing around with some of Kaiser's bath toys in the water, though, and after a while were ready to come inside to cool off before lunchtime.

Hard to get face shots when they're wearing their hats and hard at play!

Stopping to look up at an airplane flying overhead.

"Does that octopus want to go for a ride in the boat, Kaiser?"

"Nope, he wants to take a dip in the top of the waterwheel."

Once back inside, the boys hung out in the living room while I got their food ready.

Playing a duet.

(Kaiser's sporting Thomas the Train stickers on his back--a gift from Koen.)

"Let me help you get those cookies in the jar."

"Be careful not to knock that down, Kaiser!"

Hungry boys!

After lunch, we continued to play inside for a while. It is so fun watching and listening to Kaiser and Koen interact with one another. Koen has very much assumed his role as the older brother, giving Kaiser guidance and explaining what he thinks they should do next. It's hard for him to understand sometimes that Kaiser doesn't always get what he's saying and so can't completely cooperate, but Koen is patient and kind and quick to move on to something new if need be. I hope Kaiser is as good with his baby brother. :)

Arranging magnets on the fridge.

Koen making sure they're just right.

Pretty soon the backyard was calling our names again, so we headed outside for another short water table session.

"This thing comes off? Interesting..."

Koen asked me to take his picture, then decided to smile at me through the blue cup. :)

A little after 1pm, Koen requested that we go inside so he could use the potty, and at that point I realized that Kaiser was in desperate need of a nap. He had a mini-meltdown when I would not let him go into the bathroom with his friend, so I asked Koen to play quietly in the living room while I spent some quiet time reading to and cuddling with Kaiser before he laid down to rest. Koen had been telling me all morning that he thought it was Kaiser's naptime, so I think this came as no surprise to him. :) I think my sweet boy was relieved to be out of the heat and in his cool, dark room, so he fell asleep quickly (and, after a morning of fun with his buddy, will hopefully stay asleep for quite a while!). I joined Koen back downstairs, where we cleaned up some toys and I put on a Bob the Builder DVD for him to watch until his daddy came to pick him up. Doug arrived about 2pm to take his boy (who I think was equally tired) home for a nap, as well.

Kaiser and I so enjoyed the chance to spend some quality time with Koen. We wish it were under other circumstances, and are praying for Baby Tavin's quick and complete recovery and peace of mind for his mommy and daddy! We love you, Melders!

Baby Love: Week 22

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 22 weeks
Size of Baby: About 11 inches long and weighs almost 1 pound. Baby is about the length of a spaghetti squash.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 6 1/2 pounds

Maternity Clothes: Jeans sitting lower, shirts getting tighter. But not this week.

Gender: Boy!

Movement: This kid is all over the place! I have started to notice that he's very active right after dinner, when Daddy, Kaiser, and I are in the living room playing. Maybe he hears all of our voices at once and gets excited? Now when I lay down and watch, I can pretty consistently see his movements, too. It's a great form of entertainment!

Food Cravings: Fresh fruit. I literally consumed at least a pound of red grapes yesterday. And my lunch every day consists of sliced pear, nectarine, pineapple, or kiwi over a big bowl of cottage cheese.

What I Miss: Being able to carry Kaiser around and do everyday things like bending down to clean/pick up toys without getting winded. Can't imagine how I'll be huffing and puffing in a couple of months!

Sleep: Had a rougher time sleeping this week. A couple of nights I woke up and couldn't get back to bed for about two hours. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that once I wake up and start thinking about things, I just can't turn my mind off!

Symptoms: Lots of potty breaks. Lots. And some more instances of heartburn.

Best Moment This Week: Hearing Kaiser start to say "Baby Brother (Budder)". He has to be prompted to say it, but it's still just so cute. He sees my bare belly a lot more now when I sit/lay down periodically during the day to see the little guy move. I often ask, "Can you say 'hi' to our baby?", and he walks over with a big grin on his face, pats and kisses my tummy, and says, "Hi, Baby". Then usually it's "Bye-bye, Baby", and back to whatever it was that he was doing before. :)

What I Am Looking Forward To: I know I said it last week, but I'm looking forward to soaking up summertime sun and fun with this stud...

Mr. Cheese "hep"ing Mommy with her "pee-shah"!

Dip, Baby, Dip!

Several weeks ago, I bought Kaiser a plastic kiddie pool for some summertime fun in the backyard. Unfortunately, the record-setting rain we've had in the Burgh lately hasn't made it easy to put my purchase to good use. I thought it would be a good idea for Kaiser to take a couple of dips in it before we have our first Waterbabies swim lesson at our local pool on Monday. Since today was a beautiful, sunny day with no chance of rain, I brought the kiddie pool out back and filled it up with water so Kaiser could "swim" post-lunch and pre-nap.

Of course, before we went outside, pesky Mommy tried to get some pics of her boy in his cute froggy swimsuit and shirt. You can tell he was less interested in posing and more interested in getting wet.

"Mommy, that pool is calling my name!"

"Fine, I'll sit still for one picture. But don't expect me to look at you or smile."

I know Kaiser adores his bath, but I wasn't sure if the cold water would be quite as appealing to him. And even though he spent some time in a blow-up kiddie pool last summer, I don't think he really knew what was going on when he walked down and saw the blue circle sitting in the grass.

"Hey, how did my bathtub get outside?"

Checking out the temperature of the water.

"A little cooler than I'm used to, but not too bad."

Upon first entering the pool, Kaiser slipped a little bit and started to cry, but he recovered quickly and realized that he'd like to sit and stay a while.

Aerial view.

Fun with stacking cups.

Making waves.

He kept on looking up at me with a big smile and shouting, "VATER!" (water). You'd think he'd never seen it before in his life!

Pouring water from cup to cup.

Working on his kicks.

Kaiser kept on saying, "Song, song." We did a lot of singing in the pool!

Serious swimmer.

He would point at my camera and say, "Tam-ra, cheese." Then when I picked it up to take his picture, the stinker would look away!

Spotting the letters on the bottom of the pool.

When Kaiser started to point to and name the letters in "It's Play Time", I thought I'd get a quick video. Of course, when I tried to get him to "perform" again, he would only say a couple and then decided he was over it!

As you can see, by then it was time to head inside to change clothes, read, and lay down for a nap. Thankfully, Kaiser was ready and didn't put up a fight.

"I guess all good things must come to an end..."

Hopefully this is just the first of many summertime swim sessions! Rain, rain, STAY AWAY!

5 Years...

...since one of the most thrilling, beautiful days of my life.

The day I became a Mrs....

...and walked away with my Prince.

God has done so much in these 5 short years...

...and I can't wait to see what He has in store for us for the next 50!

Brett, I truly couldn't have asked the Lord for more in a husband, father, and best friend than what He gave me in you. I come to appreciate that truth more and more with each passing day. Thank you for being all that you are to me and to our sons.

LOVE!

Floor Fun

For some reason, this evening Kaiser thought it would be fun to spend a lot of time laying on the floor. He pulled some pillows out of a basket in our living room, brought them to our back sliding glass door, and just decided to plop down and chill for a while.

Such a cozy spot!

"Gotta fluff these things."

Less than thrilled when Berk invaded his turf.

After dinner, while Daddy and Kaiser were playing in the kitchen, I happened to look over and see this:

Passed out cold?

Actually, the kidlet was not asleep. He was, however, in the process of scooting himself all the way across the floor.

Does the cold tile feel good on your back, Buddy?

Here's a short clip of him in action:

Unfortunately, my camera's memory card filled up, so it stopped filming before Kaiser was finished. Once on his tummy, he proceeded to scoot himself backward through most of the living room, as well, before returning to his normal walking self.

We're not sure what exactly prompted his little "show". Perhaps he's trying to hone his "stealth skills"? I must admit, the boy's pretty sneaky! Whatever the reason, Mommy and Daddy get such a kick out of seeing him do random, quirky, unexpected things!

My Little Outback Morning

This morning I slept in a little later than normal and woke up to a text message from my friend Jory. Jory's husband, Tharun, is an ortho resident, too, and both he and Brett were at an early conference, so she asked if Kaiser and I wanted to join her and her daughter, Nell, at My Little Outback and then meet up with the daddies for lunch. I informed her that I just rolled out of bed, but would throw on some clothes, get Kaiser up and fed, and meet her there as soon as I could. While we were in the car, Kaiser was saying, "Play no, play no". I kept saying, "Yes, Kaiser, we're going to play!" It was only once we got there that I realized he was saying, "Play Nell, play Nell"! :) Clearly he was excited to see his amiga.

I'd never been to My Little Outback before, but was anxious to visit with my boy. It's a wonderful play center for children ages 6 and under with just about every toy you can imagine. There is also a little cafe where parents can get snacks and drinks and sit while their child(ren) play. Kaiser took off before I could even get his sandals off his feet and his socks put on! In the couple of hours that we were there, there was never a dull moment.

The kiddos started off in one area that had a play fort, house, kitchen, grill, tool bench, shopping carts, vaccuum cleaners--the works. While they cooked/shopped/built/cleaned, their mommas enjoyed watching them, helping when they needed it, and catching up with one another. Then we ventured over to the inflatable bounce house. Nell hopped on and started jumping right away; Kaiser, on the other hand, was not super thrilled about being put inside. After a minute or so, we decided to move on to another area with some different toys (big blocks and balls, a sit 'n spin, learning tables, etc.) and a place to climb up and then go down a slide. The little friends kept very busy exploring all of the newness and each got a chance to take a turn on the sit 'n spin courtesy of Mommy. Next was the area for the kids who are a bit older. Kaiser enjoyed building a tall "ta-ver" (tower) with some large foam blocks. He isn't adventurous enough yet to do any real climbing, but I did get him to (somewhat reluctantly) go down a tube slide on my lap, and of course he loved it.

Before long Nell was ready for a snack, and as we walked out to the cafe guess who was walking in? Daddy! Kaiser was so excited to have him there to play, too. I let the guys take off and stayed with the girls while they ate a little something. Nell's daddy had a meeting to go to after their conference, so we still had some more time before lunch. Once we joined back up with Brett and Kaiser, I finally decided to get out my camera to document our morning playdate.

"Mommy and Daddy are BOTH here? I just don't know what to do with myself!"

Having a blast!

Sliding with Daddy.

Climbing too fast for Mommy to catch!

Some side-by-side slidin'.

Stopping to chat with Nell.

"What will you give me if I crawl all the way up this slide?"

Daddy was a great supervisor.

Pretty little monkey.

Thinking about trying it solo.

"You stay right there and catch me, m'kay?"

Not sure why he was hesitant. He goes down the slide at our park all the time!

Nell has no fear!

Tired girl needed to rest.

At around 11:30 or so, we got a call from Tharun saying he was on his way, so we grabbed our things to head down the street for lunch. When we first arrived, it was just the four of us and another mommy and her two children (who happen to go to our Thursday playgroup). However, by the time we left, I'd guess that there were probably 40-50 people there, including at least one birthday party. So both Jory and I were kind of ready to get our babes out of the throng of children, anyway. And you can imagine who was very excited when Mommy told him it was time for lunch...

"Unch! Unch!"

We walked a couple of doors down to Smallman Street Deli, where Tharun soon met us. We dined on yummy sandwiches and cookies, and when we were finished had to part ways so that we could get the youngins home to nap. The Bralys are so grateful that what would have been a dull, gloomy morning was instead such an unexpected, fun one with friends!

Baby Love: Week 21

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 21 weeks
Size of Baby: About 10 1/2 inches long and weighs 12 ounces. Baby is about the length of a carrot.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 6 1/2 pounds

Maternity Clothes: Not this week. I've been very thankful for empire-waisted dresses and leggings!

Gender: BOY OH BOY! Baby Boy Braly has a name, but to the frustration of our family and friends, we are holding off until his arrival to share it. (We waited with Kaiser, too.)

Movement: Getting more and more frequent as this guy gets bigger and stronger! I was even able to see him move this week. While up late blogging on Wednesday night, I was sitting against the couch with the computer in my lap. All of the sudden, I felt a big jolt and lifted up my shirt. Sure enough, I watched little bumps pop up on my stomach--once, twice, then three times! I definitely shouldn't have been up as late as I was, but it was so fun to see!

Food Cravings: Not a whole lot specifically, but while in Michigan I did randomly stop at Arby's for a small jamocha shake off their dollar menu. I wasn't really even all that hungry, but it just sounded (and tasted) really good. That is totally unlike me, so I'll chalk it up to being preggo!

What I Miss: Nada.

Sleep: Still sleeping pretty well. I've woken up more often to itch my mosquito bites than to go to the bathroom!

Symptoms: After eating a delicious meal and dessert (but not an obscene amount at all), I had my first really bad experience with heartburn this week. No fun. Thank goodness Kirsten had some Tums on hand to help her sister out!

Best Moment This Week: Seeing him move was really exciting. It makes it even more real that there's an actual human being inside there! Having gone through this before, I know I should be used to that idea by now, but it's still such a miracle.

What I Am Looking Forward To: Having an awesome summer with my Kaiser. Swimming lessons start the week after next, we are flying to St. Louis over 4th of July, and we are planning a trip to OKC in August. I want to cherish and make the most of every moment we have left with him as our only child!