Early Morning Exchange

This morning, Nick and I really didn't want to get out of bed. But, at 7:30, we heard Rachel's door creak open and she walked into our room. This is actually a good time to wake up and I usually feel well rested, but I had woken up around 4 with Bradley when he couldn't find his cup and then I couldn't go back to sleep. Anyway, Rachel got in bed with us and we turned on some cartoons for her to watch so we could keep dozing. About 15 minutes later, we heard Bradley. He was awake and talking and calling my name every once in awhile. He's in his big boy bed, so he can get up if he wants and he could open his door if he wanted, but he always waits for us to open it for him. So, we're still dozing, kind of ignoring Bradley because we're feeling so lazy. (poor kid!) Finally, Rachel says, "mommy, Braddy's awake." I said, "I know, hun, why don't you go open his door for him, but don't talk to him since he might not be nice."

On most (but not all!) mornings, Bradley is very grumpy when he wakes up. It doesn't matter that he's called me or cried for me or anything...once I get to his door and open it and turn off his noisemaker, he is usually very ugly. He usually yells, "NO!" at me and sometimes he slams his door closed. I've learned that the best thing to do is: open his door, turn off the noisemaker, say, "hi baby", walk back out, don't make eye contact, and have a fresh juice cup and snack waiting in the den with one of his favorite tv shows on. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's also called early morning survival. The last thing I want is a screaming kid when I'm still waking up. Besides, when he starts yelling and crying, he usually wakes up poor Rachel if she's still asleep, so I do everything I can to avoid this scenario. Amazingly, after Bradley finds his snack and juice, he is so pleasant and sweet and usually wants to cuddle...go figure!!

So, back to this morning...
Rachel opens Bradley's door and says in a sweet voice, "hey Braddy"
Bradley immediately yells, "NO!!"
Rachel (still in her sweet voice) "what's the matter? Are you out of juice?"
Bradley (yells again) "NO!!"
Rachel (still being sweet...the boy doesn't know how good he's got it!!) "do you want to go to papa and gege's house?"
Bradley ... silence, then the pitter patter of little feet as they race to our bedroom
Rachel follows behind... "Mommy, are we going to gege and papa's house today?"
Me "no, hun, we're not"
Rachel "Braddy, we're not going to gege's house today."
Bradley runs out of the room.

It was a funny little conversation to hear on the monitor and sweet Rachel was doing whatever she could to make Bradley get in a good mood. I thought it was funny and clever. The bottom line is, "beware of grumpy Bradley in the morning!"

Pumpkin Patch Visit #1

Rachel really loved this cute little pumpkin

Running through the pumpkin patch

Bradley...with the wind in his hair...enjoying the slide

Bradley, Rachel & Raquel enjoying the swings

Rachel & Bradley riding in Nellie,

the birthday girl, Raquel, behind them in Eugenia

the cow train

the kids didn't really want to cooperate for this photo-op!

the "hazardous" corn box

We had a very busy, but fun Saturday!! We started out the morning at Raquel and Eli's 4th and 2nd birthday party at the pumpkin patch (their birthdays are a week apart). We had so much fun while we were there! There were tons of kiddie refreshments and we started out at the playground. Then, we had the cow train all to ourselves. Rachel and Bradley shared a cow together...this is the first year that I haven't gotten the privilege of bumping along in that dern cow on the bumpy ride! (I really missed it!) Then, we made our way up to the front of the farm where we walked through a huge pumpkin patch and admired all the pumpkins. We went to the petting zoo and saw some donkeys, goats, cows, pigs, bunnies and turkeys. Then we had just enough time to get in the corn box, which is like a huge sand box, but it's filled with corn kernels. My kids loved it, but there was an older group of kids there who were pegging each other with corn...so we didn't stay in there too long. We didn't have time to do the cool homemade slide or the corn maze or the hay bale maze or the duckie water game, but Rachel was consoled by the fact that we're going back tomorrow with her class. I'm excited that I get to go back too...the place is so much fun! Bradley won't get to go, but he'll never know since he'll be getting spoiled by Gege and having his own little individual party. The reason we didn't get to stay long is because we had to get to Gege's for Nick's cousin's wedding. The wedding was beautiful, the bride and groom looked lovely and seemed to really enjoy their day. Joe and Nick cooked awesome ribs and all the fixin's, so you can't go wrong there. And, the weather was so pleasant, we basically spent the whole day outside...what could be better! Of course, we were pooped last night, but just came home to rest and relax! It was a very fun day!!

Nostalgic photos!!

I recently stumbled upon a CD that grammy (Juju's grandma) made of her 2nd birthday. The pictures of the girls were so precious, I wanted to post a few for nostalgic purposes! I'm used to seeing 2 year old Bradley...but I can't believe how much the girls have changed in 2 years!!! They were chubby-faced little cuties and now they're beautiful little girls! (In the photos, Rachel isn't quite 2 yet, since her birthday is in May.) So many of the expressions I see in these pictures of Rachel, remind me of Bradley. It'll be neat to see how much of Alex's expressions are like Julia's!

Bradley's new bed

We're considering making this Bradley's new bed since he falls asleep here so easily. He sure isn't like his sister was at 2...we were lucky and thankful if we got her to nap in her own bed. Also, once he's out, he's out...there's no waking him up until he's ready!! :)

Pumpkin Carvin' Time

Yesterday when we went to Wal-mart, I realized that it was already mid-October and that we hadn't gotten or carved a pumpkin yet. So, we looked at the huge stack of cheap pumpkins and "picked" two to take home. We're actually going to the pumpkin patch this Saturday (for a b-day party) and Monday (with Rachel's school), but I decided to go ahead and get some at good ole Wal-mart. Of course, the kids were excited and we carved them last night. I drew the awesome designs on them (haha!) and Nick carved the mean-faced one and I carved the goofy-faced one. The kids mostly ran around and acted silly. Rachel wanted to help scoop out some of the pulp and seeds, but after a few handfuls, she decided she didn't like the gooey, slimy feel. Bradley didn't want to touch the pulp at all, but he tried and tried to get my carving knife, obviously not understanding that he would seriously hurt himself with it. He was furious when I wouldn't give it to him. They both decided to sit with the pumpkins right before we were going inside to get a bath. I didn't have time to put a candle in them last night, so I'll do it tonight and take a picture to show the final product. I'm sure you'll be impressed! :)

Fall Break

Bradley trying the flimsy bridge

Rachel trying out the flimsy bridge

Bradley wanted to slide down backwards

Bradley on top of the "mountain"

Rachel on top of the "mountain"

Rachel on some sort of balancing circle

Bradley spinning in the cool wobbly seat
(He giggled the whole time he was on this!)

Rachel's school is out for Fall Break this past Friday and tomorrow (Monday). So, Nick and I decided to have a family day on Friday. He only had to work for a couple of hours in the morning and then came home. I wanted to go to Stone Mtn. or something to ride the train and see the mountain. But, with gas prices so high, we decided to stay local. I couldn't justify spending the money on gas and then paying to get into the park and then paying a very hefty price to ride the train. So, we just went to one of our cool parks in Athens and then ate pizza and then went home. We had a great time and since it was so overcast, we didn't get too hot at the park. The park we went to is so cool...lots of castles, climb on toys, slides, tunnels, swings, balance beams, etc... Both kids had a blast! It was nice just doing something simple as a family.

Saturday

Asleep and looking uncomfortable!

Curly the gorgeous golden

Well, Nick and I had so many ambitious plans for things we could accomplish around the house on Saturday, but none of them happened. We were just too tired to follow through on anything. We even started a few minor things and then didn't feel like finishing. We ended up outside, on the playground enjoying the awesome, windy weather. Then, we got out our cool kites, Buzz Lightyear and Hello Kitty and soared them way up in the air. Rachel and Bradley liked this for a few minutes, and Rachel lasted longer than Bradley, but in the end, Nick and I were the ones out there flying the kites. I'm sure we looked ridiculous to the neighbors. We can't make fun of the kites too much, though...they fly very well for only $1! We came in and rested and Nick watched the UGA game while Rachel and I played Littlest Pet Shop. Bradley was so tired that he fell asleep on the chair in the den and looked so uncomfortable that Nick rescued him and held him while he watched the game. Then, we discovered that there was a beautiful golden retriever in our front yard, so Rachel and I went out to investigate. The dog was so pretty, so sweet and such a reminder to me of all the goldens that my parents used to have. He had long, wispy hair with curls on his back. He had a gorgeous full face and Rachel really fell in love with him. She threw an old ball around for him for a long time and kept giving him water and petting him. He was so well cared for that we knew he belonged to some great family. Since he was having such a great time and didn't want to go home, we called our neighbor who said he lived across the street from him. The dog didn't have a collar on, though, and our neighbor said his owner was out of town, so he came and got him last night and took him home. Rachel was disappointed, but glad that she got to play with such a sweet dog. She also decided to name him Curly, because of the curls on his back. So, it was a fun day and a nice treat to play with a precious golden retriever.