So I dont forget...

This is more for me, so I don't forget!  Charlie said all three things to me today...I am in trouble!!

1.) I forget now what he was telling me to stop doing..maybe tickling or something, and he stops and points his finger at me and says "If I say stop, then I mean stop.  Don't make me repeat myself." :)

2.)We were playing Dr. Dentist..he often needs a nudge to brush his teeth at night.  He ask what my Dr name was and I told him Dr. Way.  He goes "W-A-Y?"  I told him that was right!!  I swear I spell Way a million times more then I ever spelled Bramlett...go figure??

3.) He was getting in trouble...sensing a theme....and I was giving him my "stern" look and he pointed at me and said " You better wipe that look off your face before I help you out"...AGGGHHRRR, I cant believe I have ever said that to him...I swore I'd never say that!!  He kills me though, cause I can be blood boiling mad at him and he is just smiling away.  Maybe I'm doing something wrong cause he never seems frightened enough of me..and I kinda think that's a necessity as a parent:)

he'll have his cake and eat it too

Is that even how the saying goes??  Anywhoo, its no surprise to anyone that he tore this cake apart...which actually says a lot.  I whipped this up during nap time and I was out of reg flour so I used whole wheat flour...yuck, yuck cake:(  And I figured it would be, but you gotta have cake on your birthday!!  the homemade icing was good enough to make up for the cake!!

Just took him back tothe Dr on Wed..his ears are fine, but he cannot keep his fingers out of his ear:(

Looking forward to doing this all again on Sat..except this time with good cake!!

One year:)

No way has this sweet and tiny 7lb 2 oz baby turned into a full blown 26lb one year old!!

It's hard to remember how tiny he was..considering that he is ginormous now!!

I am blessed to be his mommy..and I am blessed to receive this smile about 427 times a day...God is good! ( He thought that tiger was the coolest thing ever!!)

I love my sweet, sweet, sweet Easton!

He has accomplished a whole stinking lot in a years time....

*He managed to get over his MSPI and tolerate regular formula at 9months...and clearly he is doing okay!  At the Dr yesterday he was just under 26lbs!

*Gave up his pacifier at 9months with hesitation!

*Gave up the bottle at 10 months..he is still getting formula 2 times a day from a sippy cup.  I know he is certainly big enough, but I still want to feed his brain!!

*He has all 12 teeth...are you kidding me..that is a mouthful of teeth..combine that with his size and people tend to expect a little more out of him!

*FINALLY started crawling at 11.5 months....can you still call him laid back at this point?!?!?!

*Can say mama and dada and EEE-Ya..no clue what the last one is, but he says it all day long..and it makes him giggle!!

*I still make an occasional baby food veggie, just cause I don't feel like he gets enough variety since he is one all reg food.  The other night we ate at On The Border and I split with him.  I have since decided to spilt with Charlie.  Easton ate most my rice and beans, half an enchilada,  half a tostada and ttortilla....eating is clearly not a problem for him!!

Easton is the sweetest baby boy ever..I love that he loves to snuggle and cuddle.  I love that he is so sensitive.  I love that he makes people feel so special by loving on them so much.  I am so thankful that we waited almost 17 months for God to bring us the PERFECT baby for our family. I cannot imagine life with this super sweet blessing!  I cannot wait to see what he becomes...as long as he gets there slowly....this year has flown by WAY to fast!

What's a hawk say?

Charlie's hawk noise was one of my favorite animal noises he made..and guess which animal noise Easton made first!!

GAK

One night last week..or maybe 2 weeks ago we decided to do a family project. Charlie LOVES projects and he wanted to do a family project.  I had just seen and printed a recipe for GAK..you know, that slimy stuff, so I knew I had a winner!!  I felt confident that Charlie would love it, but Bradley and I managed to be entertained for a while too!!

Okay, Bradley and I had been painting..so you can feel super jealous of how great we look!

For the longest time it freaked Easton out to touch it..once he got over it, he kept trying to put it in his mouth!

I love Eastons look here...I tried to do the sneeze and act like I had pink snot everywhere...Charlie just looked at me and asked "Why did you sneeze on my GAK?"...oh kiddo:)

He was super appreciative of the necklace we made for him! 

My family did dinner at my house about a week ago for my moms birthday and I knew she would love to watch the kids have fun with this project...look at the pretty colors!!  The kids and adults were entertained for a good hour with this project!

By the end they had mixed all their colors and I had one big..well, I'll be honest.. it looked like a cow pattie on my counter.  I was super kind and sent it home with Adam and Christy.  I'm generous like that. 

and apparently I'm a little crude too....

Recipe:

1 tsp of borax

1 1/2 c water

 4oz bottle of glue

food coloring

Mix borax with 1 cup water and set aside

Mix glue, food coloring, and 1/2c water.

Add borax mixture to glue mixture and watch it come to life!  I whisked the two together with a fork for a minute and then just dove in with my hands.  The more you work with it, the more the water mixes in!  And yes, it does come off clothes:)

Easton's other mommy visits!

So, let me stop you before you go "What..she came to your house??"  Yes, we invited her cause we wanted her to come..and we were thrilled to avoid a 5hr round trip to Abilene:)  I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous, but I honestly knew things would be fine.  I wasnt nervous cause "Easton's mom was coming", I was nervous because I just hate awkward silences and such and I didn't want that.  Well, with a almost 1 yr old and a 3 1/2 yr old....there is no silence:)  It was great and I am so glad we had them over as opposed to meet at restaurant..it was so much more laid back and comfortable. 

And more importantly, I am glad I have almost 60 pictures to share with Easton..to show him he is loved by his other family, he is important enough to change their schedules to come see him....I am glad he will have this documented time to know he is loved, cared for and that HE IS IMPORTANT to them.  It really does make me so happy to see "M" hold him and love on him.  Four years ago I would have never really meant it if I said I wanted my sons other moms to be involved..It was still all about me 4 yrs ago.  But I just can't say enough...for our family at least..having the kids parents involved makes me happy and feel like..for us...that we are doing whats right by our boys.  I get our "open adoption style" isn't for everyone, but it makes my heart full to hear my boys (Charlie) pray for his and Eastons parents.  And it makes me fill like I am abundantly blessed by God when I get full circle moments with the boys other parents.  I may be overly cheesy today.."M" just left about an hour ago and I am still kinda giddy happy...but really, we are sooo lucky!!!

K (M's twin), E and M

I thought this was a great one:)

twin and E..I thought this was a great one of them also!

  the one on the end is M's best friend..we met her at the hospital and she was at our last visit too.

Charlie actually took this one:)

this was the best of the 3 that I got like this...at least we tried!

Okay, here is my explanation for my lack of blogging..as soon as the visit was scheduled, there was a sudden mad dash to get all my liitle and big projects done.  It's like when a caseworker is coming to our house..you know they arent there to see the house, but it makes me and my type A personality feel better to have everything just right! 

I'd been wanting stripes on this little ledge..so this was a naptime project.  I loved how the stripes turned out, but you could only see them from the upstairs:(...

so the next day at naptime I painted some in the boys living room.  When I painted stripes in Charlies nursery, they were perfect. And they should have been..I had no children and all the free time in the world!  These are not all perfect..my lines are..the width isnt!!  Close enough, right!!

And then we painted ALL the white walls in our house this color...25 walls total, some big and some small.  But the entry way..um, ginormus tall walls  Thsoe walls will forver be this color!!

another nap time project..

and another..see now why the blogging slacked so much!

Then there was the kitchen..once we painted the walls that green/kacki color it didnt match the kitchen..so it got primed then painted..and since I was loving the stripes, we continued on in there!  Next up is the cabinets and counter tops...I'm already dreading the cabinets:(

But I sure do love the strtipes!!

by the way..spell check died half way through..sorry your having to suffer through my typos!!..and I know there are a ton of them!

brotherly love

I'm lucky that they both still love each others guts..I love to see them play and watch how much they love each other.  Easton often just stares and smiles at Charlie..and I kinda think it's the sweetest thing ever!

skull birthday party is on its way..no one is too surprised with the theme:)

I though this was too sweet..and no, Eastons head is not larger..I know cause I measured!  I guess it's just the angle..

these pictures are from Jan...I was low on March pictures, so I found some I had not posted in Jan!  By then end of Jan Easton was officially off his pacifier and his bottle!!!!  No surprise that he was so easy about giving both up!!

Love that toothy smile!

happy:)

It's a shame he isn't happy..and that it's so hard to make him smile:)