Lots of Sweet Teeth!

As I've mentioned a couple of times now, Baby #2 and I have thoroughly enjoyed the Mother's Day goodies that Brett brought home last weekend from Oakmont Bakery. And when I eat something I love, I love to talk about it, so of course I found myself raving about their yumminess to Meaghan. Now, if anyone knows about sweets, it's this girl. She and her husband, Mark, are our friends who own a chocolate factory and milkshake shop.

After our conversation on Wednesday, Meaghan texted me to say that she was now desperately craving Oakmont treats. Since her car is in the shop this week, I suggested that Kaiser and I come pick her and Austin up this morning so we could go on a "sweet date" together. Then I spent the next 2 days looking forward to it! Upon our arrival at the bakery, we spent several minutes just taking everything in:

I'll take one of everything!

Kaiser assessing the merchandise.

After a once-over, we found a table and I stayed with the boys so Meaghan could go make her choices.

Mr. Austin munchin' on a Mum Mum.

Don't drink all of your milk before the sweets come, Kiddo!

Meaghan returned and I took my turn at the counter. I really could have picked one of everything, but I ended up with nine different cookies, a mini cheesecake, a raspberry petit four...and a raisin bran muffin (to make me feel at least a little bit healthy). When I got back to our seats, these adorable faces were waiting for me:

"What can I say? My parents make chocolate. I'm pretty much required to love it!"

My son was too busy stuffing his face and asking for "mo" to bother looking at the camera.

What do you think? Do Meaghan and I win the "Best Mommies Ever" Award or the "Worst Mommies Ever" Award? ;) Ha!

Austin votes "Best".

So does Kaiser.

"Enough with the kisses, Mommy!"

Evaluating the damage.

Once we were stuffed with sugar (just so you know, we did bring most of our purchases home to share with the daddies), we drove back to Meaghan and Austin's and spent some fun time playing together. I promise Kaiser did eat the healthy lunch I packed (though definitely not as much of it as he usually does...)

Happy to share his peas with his lil buddy.

Checking out what's up on the street outside.

Love seeing these two together!

"Hey! The mommies are watching us!"

Skipped his morning nap but managed to find the energy to play.

Tickling the ivories with Meaghan.

"Dude, if you want to lay down, we do have beds in this house."

Here is a short video of the boys (and the less-cute Momma Kyndal) that Meaghan took on her iPhone:

Around 1pm, Austin's Yia Yia (Mark's mom) stopped by to drop off some food, so we enjoyed getting to meet her and then headed home for Kaiser's nap shortly thereafter.

Thanks for indulging with us this morning, Meaghan and Austin! We had a blast and definitely need to plan another "Mommy-Son Bakery Run" again!

Baby Love: Week 18

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 18 weeks

Size of Baby: About 5 1/2 inches long and weighs 7 ounces. He or she is about the length of a bell pepper.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 2 1/2 pounds

Maternity Clothes: Still wearing my regular jeans, but they're definitely feeling a little more snug!

Gender: The countdown is on--12 days! Nat told me she's convinced I'm birthin' another boy, and I wouldn't be surprised if she's right. :)

Movement: I've been feeling several flutters during the day and lots of more noticeable thumps when I lay down late at night. Loving it!

Food Cravings: Sugar, sugar, sugar. I totally consumed a sinful amount of peanut butter brownie bar this week. Sinful. And I just might have gotten another friend to indulge with me in my "all things sweet" craving this morning... (Working on that post next!)

What I Miss: Another week where I'm not feeling too deprived. Life is good!

Sleep: I've been lucky to sleep well without middle-of-the-night potty breaks, but I've fallen back into the habit of wasting time at night and going to bed way too late. I blame Brett's horrid call schedule for that. Thank goodness he's moving on to a rotation with no overnight call starting Monday! :)

Symptoms: Lots of potty breaks and a growing belly!

Best Moment This Week: Spending two lovely days with my beautiful preggo amiga and her boys. Loved, LOVED talking all things baby with Nat. She's bound and determined to get me to tell her our names, but I held strong. :) Life would be infinitely sweeter if she were still here and we could experience this together, day in and day out!

What I Am Looking Forward To: Our ultrasound on May 26! We're so anxious to find out what this little nugget is, but even more excited just to hear that I've got a healthy baby growing in my belly!

Once again, guess who was begging to "help" Mommy take her picture this morning? :) Lookin' so handsome in his golf shirt from Oma!

(Almost) Finished Basement

Those who know the Bralys well know that almost a year ago, I was the recipient of a crummy belated birthday gift in the form of a basement flood. (You can see pictures of the damage here.) Though we were initially devastated, Brett and I tried to view it as an opportunity to make the space (which was already finished) into an even nicer living and play area for our family. Little did we know that it would take us nearly a year to do so...

Our unexpected project started with the floors. We hired a professional to install acid stained concrete, and were very happy with the result. Since there is no longer berber carpeting down there, it can get quite cold, so I've laid down some area rugs and intend to maybe get one more to hopefully help with that issue.

Next, Brett undertook the task of cutting out the lower portion of wet drywall and treating for mold. Rather than repairing the drywall, we decided to put up beadboard paneling and a chair rail. This was a big job, especially for a second-year resident putting in already ridiculous hours, but you better believe my hardworking man got it done. Then I stepped in, and over the course of several naptimes managed to complete the painting. We went with a very neutral tan color on the walls, with a lighter shade for the paneling.

The final step was getting this space furnished! Rather than buying new pieces for the basement, we opted to relocate most of our current living room furniture and purchase new for upstairs. We were ready for a change, anyway. Here is kind of an idea of what our upstairs looked like before. (This was taken as soon as we were "settled" after moving in, so late summer 2008.)

And here is our living room now:

New couch (Macy's), rug (Pier 1), and bookshelves (IKEA), all of which we love, and of course the lovely piano, a Christmas blessing from Jefe that had been hanging out in the basement for several months and was finally given a worthy home!

So, are you a bit curious to see how our basement turned out? Let me take you on a little tour. If you walk downstairs and turn immediately to the left, here is what you see:

The chest came down from our former guest room. The desk and arm chair were stored downstairs (or in the garage) since we moved here and have been just begging to be put to good use. At last their dreams have come true! Continue sweeping the room to find this living area:

The couch, rug, and pot with bamboo obviously came from our original living room. (This leather furniture set was in Brett's home growing up, and inheriting it has been an absolute blessing!) The wood chest (which will be home to a TV at some point in the future) was also in our guest room, while the rattan chest was a recent purchase from IKEA, bought to house lots and lots of toys! Directly behind the couch is this:

It's not a huge space, but I bought this area rug from Target in an attempt to kind of designate this as the kids' play area. I intend to purchase a small wooden table and chairs from IKEA, but it is currently out of stock. On the right you can partially see this piece:

The bookshelf migrated down from the living room, as well. I bought storage baskets from IKEA (but still need to go grab one more, as you can see). I thought this would do a nice job serving two purposes--housing more of Kaiser's toys and partially dividing the room to create this space:

Welcome to our new guest room! Since we live so far from family, we absolutely have to have a place for them to sleep when they come to stay with us. Doesn't it look comfy and inviting? :) (Hint, hint, potential visitors!) JR and Nat slept down here this past weekend, and she swore that the bed was heavenly. And check out the lovely scenery you get to admire while laying in it:

Wish there was somewhere to tuck this away, but there's just not. And considering the time I log on this bad boy, he's not going anywhere anytime soon.

No guest room is complete without a place to get ready for the day; here is the bathroom.

(Please ignore the ghetto piece of cardboard jammed under the toilet. It's a temporary fix for some wobblin' going on.)

And that, my friends, is what we've got so far. In addition to the cardboard toilet "support", there are a handful of paint touch-ups that need to be made to baseboards, the closet doors need to be repainted, and as mentioned I'd like to buy a couple more items. For the most part, though, the basement is finished, and it's a great feeling. I'm so excited that our family and out-of-town guests can actually put it to good use now!

Friends Make the Heart Happy

Remember how I said on Friday that I was looking forward to a weekend visit with a sweet friend? Well, turns out the "mystery" preggo was none other than Nat. A few weeks ago, we were thrilled to find out that she and her precious family would be gracing us with their presence, albeit for only a couple of days. We absolutely could not wait to see and spend whatever time we could get with our guests!

For those unfamiliar with our "story", Nat found my blog back in February 2009 and contacted me because her hubby's job was going to be moving them to Pittsburgh in a couple of months. Though they were living in Dallas at the time, JR was Oklahoma born 'n bred and Nat attended OU. Those details, combined with the fact that they were expecting their first baby boy, Hudson, in August, kind of sealed the deal for the Bralys. We were bound and determined to make them our friends. And that we did. We all fell in love hard and fast and knew that our families were "lifers" shortly after meeting and spending time with them. We talked constantly of raising our boys together and hearing them say they'd known each other "since they were born". You can imagine our shock and sadness when we found out in November that JR had a new job opportunity and the Pettijohns were moving back to Oklahoma. (Darn you, Chesapeake Energy!) Though our hearts were broken, we were so excited that they got to move back to the Homeland, and not a conversation takes place between us that doesn't include talk of us joining them soon. They are truly some of our favorite people. Ever.

Okay, enough mulling over the past. On to our wonderful weekend with these three! (WARNING: Much of our time together centered upon watching our adorable 9-month-old and 16-month-old play with one another. Few things could bring more happiness to these proud parents than seeing our beloved boys interact. So be prepared for tons of pics of the cuties, m'kay?)

Nat, JR, and Hudson were planning to arrive in Pittsburgh late Saturday morning, stop in the South Side to visit with some of JR's work friends for a while, and then come over around Hudson's bedtime. Well, unfortunately they missed their early flight out of OKC and didn't get to town until that evening. Brett was on call, and Kaiser had had an off day, so I put him down early and thought I'd do a little last-minute cleaning before they arrived. I thought they'd still be stopping in the South Side, but was pleasantly surprised when they knocked on our door just moments after Kaiser went to bed! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this little dude come through my door:

Checking out Kaiser's car.

How Hudson Bear has grown in just a few months! The last time I got to hold him, he was barely in control of his teensy body. Now he's on the go--and super quick!

I heart that sweet face.

We went back into Kaiser's big boy room (formerly our guest room), where Hudson would be bunking in our pack 'n play. I did something somewhat spontaneous and totally unlike me and went to go get Kaiser from his bedroom so that he could say hi to our friends. I just couldn't wait until the morning to see him and his long-lost buddy together! I could kick myself for not grabbing my camera to get photos/video of those two upon first seeing each other. Kaiser kept pointing to Hudson and saying, "Baby", and when I would say, "That's Hudson," he would say, "Hudsie." Melt my heart. Meanwhile, Hudson was all grins and bouncing up and down on his knees from the excitement of seeing Berkeley (who, despite my scolding, would not stop giving him kisses on his face) and, I hope, of seeing Kaiser, too. We all enjoyed visiting for a while, but pretty soon we could tell that Hudson was ready to wind down with a bath before bed, and Kaiser was ready for a "second night-night", as well. :)

Kaiser got to "help" JR give Hudson a bath for a bit, but then Mommy said it was time for bed.

After both kidlets were down, the adults relaxed in the living room. JR kicked back with a couple of Golden Monkeys (a PA-brewed beer that he and Brett louvre--Brett made sure to have some waiting for him in the fridge!), and upon my suggestion, Nat and I made a late-night run to Dairy Queen for some Butterfinger Blizzards. After staying up way too late catching up on life since they've moved home, we finally called it a night.

Sunday morning Brett worked extra hard to make sure he got out of the hospital ASAP. He was able to get home around 9:30am, which gave him enough time to say hi, get changed, play a little with his son, and head out to make a 10:45 tee time with JR. (Just to clarify, under any other circumstances, Nat and I would not be super thrilled about our hubbies ditching us to play golf on Mother's Day. However, we were willing to make an exception in this case, seeing as these two have been missing each other so and dying to get out together to swing the sticks at Birdsfoot, the course where their "romance" began.) I actually took this picture when they got back that afternoon, but let's just pretend I was on top of my game and snapped it before they left, which was the original plan...

Reunited and it feels so good!

While the big boys played outside the house, the little boys opted to stay home and play indoors with their mommies. Here is a glimpse of the fun they had together:

Hudson the Flirt gettin' comfortable in Kaiser's high chair.

The only shot I have of them both looking at the camera!

"Yeah, it's totally cool for you to play with my instruments."

Hudson trying out Kaiser's "girly" sippy cup.

Kaiser reclaimed his cup and decided to double-fist.

"Dude, did you seriously just dump out all of my toys?"

Kaiser giving his friend a letter lesson.

These two are going to have to learn to share better when their siblings come along this fall!

Cuddling up on the floor with wood blocks =

Sign it's time for a morning nap!

The perfectly "O" shaped mouth kills me!

That afternoon, while both of our youngin's rested, Nat and I got in some good talk time. We chatted about babies, Botox--you know, the important stuff. :) Just about the time we were wondering what our husbands were up to, I got a call from Brett letting us know that they'd opted to just play 9 holes (the day was quite chilly and windy, which made it a little harder to fully enjoy themselves) and were headed home with a "Mother's Day surprise" for us. He kept saying how excited they were about it, so I immediately knew that it was some kind of food which they would be eating and enjoying, too. I told Nat I thought it might be ice cream from Page's Dairy Mart (a favorite of both couples); though my guess was incorrect, I was far from disappointed when they walked in with a load of goodies from the Oakmont Bakery. Take a look at the gifts they chose for their wives, both of whom are lovers of all things sweet:

Peanut butter brownie bar.

Be still my heart.

Mini ladylock pastries.

Mini chocolate cream pie.

And, if you think those look good, check out the real stars of the show:

Raspberry torte bar and Oakmonter bar.

Hello, delicious.

I'd like to tell you we held off on dessert until after dinner, but that would be horribly untruthful. We definitely busted into the brownie bar and chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies (not pictured) quickly upon their arrival. We had a little taste of something sweet, then got our sweet boys up from their naps and let them enjoy some playtime with the daddies.

Every time Brett caught his eye, Hudson would lean his head way over to one side. It was the most adorable thing!

I'm not gonna lie; sometimes things got ugly. Like when K would steal H's bopper. But he always gave it back. :)

The Pettijohns and Bralys dined upon chicken fajitas, guacamole, Texas caviar, Mexicali corn dip, and tortilla chips for dinner. Yum-mo. Afterwards, we squeezed in some more playtime before bath and bed.

This pic's a little blurry, but I love JR's face in it!

Hudson wanted to push his buddy, too.

We decided to bathe our boys together, knowing that they'd have fun, and it would of course make for a great photo op. Before hopping in the tub, Hudson spotted Kaiser's "Big Bear" (a 1st birthday gift from the Pettijohns, and a smaller--yes, smaller!-- version of one Hudson has at home).

Someone's excited!

K & H are going to love it when they're high school seniors and their mommies pull out this pic.

Seriously, does it get any cuter than this?

As expected, bathtime was all sorts of fun (perhaps even more for the parents). :) We laughed about how Kaiser and Hudson are so different--our own little odd couple. Hudson was Mr. Energy, splashing all over the place, flashing the goofiest faces; meanwhile, Kaiser was his laid-back, mostly reserved self, staring at his friend like he was a crazy man.

"You do know that you're chewing on foam, right?"

A bath's not really a bath if you're not wearing letters and numbers on your head.

"You lost your 'U', Man."

Kaiser loved having Nat quiz him on his letters.

Wish this stinker was in our tub more often!

Watching his friend ham it up.

I think this is their mommies' favorite.

Getting tossed by Daddy before diapering, lotioning, and dressing for bed.

Once the kidlets were on their way to Dreamland, we pulled out the Oakmont sweet treats and forks and went to town. The four of us totally played "musical plates" and passed them around and around, not giving a second thought to eating after one another. Now that's what I call friendship. Nat and I also decided that we need to have our own Food Network show, a la Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, where we travel the country showcasing all of the most famous bakeries. Can you tell we're two hungry pregnant girls? :) After reaching our sugar capacity while watching some TV, Brett said goodbye (he had to be at work way early the next morning) and we all threw in the towel and went to bed.

On Monday morning Kaiser was up and at 'em at his normal time. After finishing breakfast, apparently he decided he was lonely and wanted someone to play with. Without Mommy knowing, he quietly snuck upstairs, opened Hudson's door, and gave his friend a wake-up call. I found the two of them with their hands pressed together, talking to each other through the mesh of the pack 'n play. I can't begin to tell you what I'd pay to have nabbed a picture of that. Instead, I got one of this lil morning glory:

Rise and shine!

The boys hung out in their pjs and played for a while until Hudson needed to nap. Nat and I loved watching their interactions and seeing them deal with having to share toys. I can't help but wonder whether Kaiser's going to be sharing with a little brother or little sister. :)

Hudson chasing after the car, while Kaiser pulls it away.

Around noon, the moms and tots headed out to eat at Panera. That place never gets old.

Our handsome lunch dates.

So good at feeding himself!

Kaiser and his "muck".

Sweet boy with his momma.

Once we got back home, it wasn't long before Kaiser needed to go down for a nap. I let him stay up a few minutes later than normal for some final playtime with Hudson Bear, though.

"Listen here, you'd better come back to see me soon!"

A burst of energy before bed!

Hudson "kissed" just about every toy he got his hands on. :)

Two-man band.

Sad to leave?

Kaiser gave Nat (aka "Dat") a goodbye hug, but pushed her away when she broke the news that they couldn't smuggle us back to Oklahoma in their suitcases. :)

Shortly after I laid the boy down, our friends packed up their car and headed to the airport. Earlier that day, I'd told Nat how ridiculous it was that we didn't have a picture together, so I asked JR to snap one before they walked out the door.

Love this lady!

Following their departure, I promptly plopped myself in front of the computer to smile and laugh at pictures of our kiddos. Oh, and you better believe I drowned my sorrows in a too-large portion of peanut butter brownie.

Pettijohns, thanks so much for sharing our home this weekend. It was a joy to have you, and you made Mother's Day 2010 a truly special one for us. We treasure your friendship and can't wait until we are close enough to see you all the time! (Norman is sounding more and more lovely...) Love you three (and a half) so much!