51 days

since the last time I posted. LAME!

More lame then the time I cried because I found out Elvis had died and I had a crush on him.

More lame then needing to hide candy for Halloween or stockings etc... so my husband won't eat it :)

MORE LAME then the time Brynner and I got food poisoning at McDonald's and spent half the night puking our guts out.

I have so much to post about, I don't know where to start and so I just sat here and counted how many times the cursor blinked before I typed this sentence (14!). Aren't you glad you're spending your time reading this?! Hey listen. I had a baby. You loose your ability to think straight. She's uber cute though so I don't care she turned my brain to mush.

See??! Cute huh. She squeals and smiles and sticks her tongue out and kicks and tries so darn hard to get her toes in her mouth but she's just too fat, poor thing. :) And then there is Brynner. Man I love this one. He jokes and laughs and dances and talks a million miles an hour about skateboards and bowling balls and how the new train he got for his birthday is doing training exercises. Where does he come up with this stuff?!

In that last picture he's showing his skateboards how to do a little break dancing. He's my most favorite little guy ever!

Trick or Treat

Forty bonus points for the first person that can correctly identity Laynie's costume!

(Hint: It rhymes with beveled leg)

(Hint: It also rhymes with leveled beg)

(Hint: It does Not rhyme with Paprika)

Donald Duck dressed up like a cowboy on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so Brynner thought it was the greatest idea ever! The look on his face when I pulled out his pistols was the best. And darn it, doesn't he make the cutest cowboy?!

I must also give a shout out to my hubby and darn it, doesn't he make the cutest chef ever?!

Fishing and Crackers

Don't get me wrong, fishing is great. Fresh air, junk food, spending quality time together (which just means trying to out fish everyone). The part that gets me is waking up at 5:00 AM to drive two plus hours. No thanks, I'd rather sleep in and go shopping! So that's exactly what Laynie and I did. Food shopping is still shopping for all intents and purposes. She only woke up for the important stuff, like when she helped me decide on which cracker to buy (Wheat Thins or Triscuits-both are so delicious!). From what I hear, the boys had a good time too (though I doubt they bonded in a way that Layn and I did). Check out one of the four huge fish Brynner caught on his Lightening McQueen pole! When I asked him how big his fish was, he stretched his arms out as wide as he could and with an even bigger grin, yelled at me about it's Polka Dots. Daddy, you taught him well. In fact, if we teach our children nothing else, I think they could be pretty self sufficient adults one day. Laynie the efficient cracker picker and Brynner, the pro fisherman-boy.

Laynie's Nusery

Laynie's nursery is coming together very slooooowly due to the fact I had to put seventy-three coats of paint on her crib. Nevermind the fact that I can't stand up straight any longer-I love it and think it was totally worth it. I still want to incorporate some owls on the tree and perhaps a stuffed owl in her crib. All I have left is the mobile (ideas?), wall art, painting the rocking chair, and painting the dresser. I can confidently say it will be done by the time she's twelve-easily.

Normal-ish

This lil' sugar has captured my heart. I can't believe she'll be pushing three months soon! For all concerned I'm happy to report Brynner is still a very sweet brother. He offers to get her binky if she so much as whimpers and shoves it in. My favorite thing he got for me yesterday was a one inch piece of toilet paper when I asked him to get me a 'little piece.' I had a good laugh and thanked him for doing exactly as I asked.

Layn is just so darn smiley I can't help but loving her to pieces and kissing those chubby cheeks of hers all day long. Could I fall in love with her more you ask?! I most certainly did when she started sleeping through the night. Yay!! Life is steadily getting more normal around here....or at least as normal as we come! :)

Just to test ourselves we've decided tomorrow is the day we'll potty train Brynn. Why the heck not. So basically-I'm terrified. Advice?! Condolences?! I'll take anything I can get.

Breaking News

Question: What do you get when you have a pink bowling ball, a step, and a two year old?

Answer: A broken thumb.



I think any sport that you can break bones should be considered extreme. Bowling Alley's need to post disclaimers and require signed waivers if you ask me.

Case and point: Last week we went bowling and ended up at the Instacare with a sad boy and a broken thumb. Were you aware bowling became an extreme sport? Me either, so you can imagine my disappointment when Brynner figured it out. Now I'm not saying we don't love us some extreme sports, but I'll come prepared with pads and a helmet next time. It's all about calculated risks. He trips and falls all the time, but never with a big pink bowling ball in hand while wearing slick shoes, in front of a step. I knew he probably broke something when I took a look at his swollen hand and bruising thumb just seconds after he fell. His screaming and clenching his hand also clued me in. He didn't really stop screaming until the nurse gave him a Louie-Bloo Raspberry. In case you don't speak Otter Pop, that's the name of the blue one. A dinosaur sticker and horse sticker were also required, but then he was a brave boy and was so good for the x-rays. Wanna see? It's a picture of a picture but if you look really close you'll see the break on the tip of his thumb.

So yeah, that was fun.

Just because

we can't get enough of her!

My Grandma read this storybook to my Mom as a little girl. She read it to me and now I read it to my little ones!

Brynner is the sweetest big brother! He's such a good helper and always wants to go, "Check on the baby," when she's taking a nap.

How it all went down

07/06/10

11:00 P.M. Contractions start coming every 3 to 5 minutes.

07/07/

5:00 A.M. Contractions stop steadily coming and decide to be sporadic through out the day making me doubt I'm even in labor.

4:00 P.M. Brad makes me call my Doc and he suggests getting checked out in the hospital.

4:30 P.M. Grandma Carter comes over to watch Brynner and Brad gets home from work.

6:30 P.M. Nurse says my water is still intact and suggests we walk around for a half hour to see if my contractions are still steady.

6:40 P.M. Brad and I book it down three flights of stairs to the cafeteria (in my hospital gown mind you) so I can sneak some food. Best blueberry yogurt/trail mix of the year.

6:50 P.M. I'm standing in front of the double doors shoveling in nuts and dried fruit before going back to the "No eat" zone. Of course I forget to eat dinner with everything going down.

7:00 P.M. Nurse checks again and says my water broke. Apparently I was too busy stuffing my face to even notice.....it was some good yogurt y'all.

8:00 P.M. I get my epidural while Brad races home to put our little one to bed.

11:00 P.M epidural decides to stop working.

11:25 P.M Anesthesiologist (finally!) comes and gives me another dose.

11:30 P.M. I experienced dilating from a 5+ to a 10 (in a half hour!) without epidural working feels like. Holy Hanna! I panicked at first because it came on so suddenly, then took over Brad's hand and went to work. Hand is surprisingly still attached.

11:35 P.M. Three pushes later, our little Laynie Simone Roska is born. 6 lbs 1 oz. 18 inches long and is perfect beyond perfect.

11:45 P.M. Second dose Mr. Anesthesiologist gave fully kicks in. Awesome. It wears off at 9:00 A.M the next morning.

Garbage Truck

My favorite time of the day is when it's, "Brynner's turn!" to say the prayer. He's been saying them (by himself) for a couple of months now. Some of the things he prays for each day has me holding my hand over my mouth so I don't laugh out loud. For example, he thanks his Heavenly Father on a regular basis for our neighbors trash. Sure he's thankful for hot dogs, {clothes} hampers, and his Mommy and Daddy.....but don't be mistaken, we don't get the verbiage in his prayers like our neighbors trash does. Not even close! Garbage truck day is particularly exciting around here. Maybe he's thankful for our neighbors trash because it attracts big noisy trucks to come by our house each week. The Garbage truck driver gets to see his nose smashed against the window as he yells, "Here it comes! Here it comes Mommy!" over and over as his little voice gets higher and higher until I acknowledge it's presents. The way I see it, anything that could get my kid sooooo excited should be something I'm thankful for too.



P.S. I'm also thankful for a laptop that runs faster. As in old laptop = riping out hair and gnashing of teeth while new laptop = sunshine and spontaneous outbursts of song. And get this, its also capable of searching the world wide web! I can again post pictures and videos and stories like my hubby taking a midterm while chewing on a {leaking} pen that made his lips and mouth glow blue! His expression when he looked into the mirror......!! So, uh, yeah-good stuff! :)

P.P.S. My Bradley is hot (Especially with blue lips).

Rusty

My house is now a dog free zone. You won't need to check your pants at my door and I won't have to vacuum my life away. There's a feeling of relief and sadness all at once. To be completely honest, the scale might tip toward the relief side a tad until I think of how Brynner might react, then it crashes toward the sad side (so far he hasn't even asked about him). For all I know Brynn may be happy to not get smacked in the face with a tail every day or occasionally get trampled over so Rusty can make a run for it out the door. I still worry, who is going to fulfill his daily dog interactions? Who is he going to laugh at, climb over, and get his clothes covered in hair with? Who can he use as a stepping stool, get his hands cleaned by, and give his graham crackers to? Who will he tell to sit or tap his foot by a crumb and say, "Here Rusty!" while being totally ignored? Who will he give hugs and pats to or make sure I know, "He has a pee pee!" every. single. day. Sorry Brad looks like I'm off the hook for two very good reasons.

1) I don't have a pee pee.

2) My pregnant belly shouldn't be consuming any more crumbs or leftover graham crackers then it already is.

Jess and Nate {pause} Grad-u-ate!

I nearly ruined the surprise of Jess and Nate's graduation invitations when I posted these pictures prematurely. Lickedly split, I took it off for later postage-crisis averted. The only problem is I was eating an Almond Joy when this was originally posted last week and now I'm not, which makes the very first line a big fat lie. And if there is something I can't stand, it's a lie. So in full disclosure I just had to say, no, I'm not eating an Almond Joy right this very second (even though I wish I was). Please read on...

Original Post:

I'm eating an Almond Joy (yes right this very second-don't hate) that was gifted to me by dear Jessica. See, we're connected on deep telepathic mind powers and she felt that I needed one today. That, or she's just super thoughtful and nice. My only hope is these pictures bring as much enjoyment to her and Nate as this candy bar brings to me. (Between us, I don't know if that's possible) Give the super nice Jessica and super jumper Nate (good form) your applause as they celebrate graduating! With degrees and everything!!!