50 Days of summer: Day 41

The kiddos about to watch a movie at "the shop" aka work. I was hoping to get my niece, Maisie in the picture, but she wasn't in the picture taking mood. I usually let my babes watch one movie while I'm working because it helps with distracting them long enough to actually accomplish something. :)

50 Days of Summer: Day 40

So I had a completely different blog planned for Day 40, but due to unforeseen events tonight I had to change it up.

If this blog wasn't titled "50 Days of Summer: Day 40" I would probably title it:

"Oh Poop!" or "Holy Poop!" or "Poop Happens" or simply "Poop!"

Why...

Well our little monster man decided to take the word milkshake literally. In the time it took me to clean off the table from dinner, give the girls a cookie and wash a few dishes I turn around to find this.
Now by the time I took this photo I had already cleaned up the floor, the baseboards behind his chair, the blinds and the chair itself. Yes, all covered. I didn't think he had that much of his milkshake left, but apparently a little can go a long way. His shirt mid way down to his pants were soaking wet.

I couldn't get mad. I mean look at this face. So innocent...yet not. ;)
When I took this picture I was telling him that mommy was very upset with him for shaking milk all over the place. In this picture it looks like he is taking it all in and thinking about it. Maybe he will make a 2 year old mental note not to do this again.
Ha. Ha.

Since the boy was soaking wet and sticky I had Sydney run some bath water for me while I finished cleaning up the mess. I took Bryce upstairs, undress him and put him in the tub. I walk across the hall to the laundry room to put his soaked clothing in the washer.
This process may have taken 2 minutes tops.

I come back to this:

Yes. Yes that is poop you see hanging out on the side of the tub and inside it.
And like all good moms I had to take a picture and post a blog about it.

I really think Bryce was trying to make it to the potty because of the poops placement. I think it ("it" as in the poop), how do I say this...came out while he was trying to get out of the tub. As you can see the longer I made him stand to take a photo the more upset he got.
I think he was a little embarrassed.

Note to self: Never turn your back on a 2 year old BOY for one minute!

Oh and for those of you who think a blog about poop is gross I'm sorry. Since Bryce has blessed our home with the joys of CF gastric issues, poop "ain't no thing but a chicken wing".

50 Days of Summer: Day 39

A little rain didn't stop us from enjoying some outside playtime. I feel like when we are at home the kids are cooped up in the house because it's either too stinking hot to go outside or it's raining. Evening rain showers are becoming the norm around here it seems. So - we decided not to let a little rain shower interfere with the outside time we had planned last night. I think everyone had a great time and the girls were excited to have an excuse to wear rain coats!

Jordyn scoots in style.

Sweet scooter trick Bryan.

Sydney is a scooter pro. The girls is FAST!

Super Mom AND mad scooter skillz...so talented. ;)

Keep in mind that Bryce has his own scooter. A super cool Cars scooter, but he prefers to ride everyone else but his.

When Bryce wasn't riding a scooter he was walking around with an umbrella looking cute as always.

50 Days of Summer: Day 38

Summer throwback photos of Bryce...

Bryce never made a dip into the pool the summer he was born. Instead he did some good sleeping by the pool.

Tiny little feet.

Bryce's very first time in a swimming pool. This was taken last summer when we went to the beach.

Bryce's first skinny dip. ;)
Watch out Sydney, naked baby coming through!
As you can clearly see, Bryce is our fair skinned child.

50 Days of Summer: Day 37

Here are photos from Bryce's 2nd birthday party over the weekend. We had a great time and the pool provided a much needed escape from the heat.

Georgia's summer is not messing around this year!!

I'm a little disappointed in my photos from Bryce's party. It's so hard to take photos, greet guests, entertain, serve food, etc. during a party. I feel like I failed Bryce with capturing his special day, not that he cares now, but he may one day down the road. I didn't even get photos of all the kiddos that were there to celebrate with us. If anyone took pictures I would LOVE for you to email them to me. Next party I'm going to have to assign someone photo duty so I have one less thing to worry about!

Enjoy...

50 Days of Summer: Day 36

We took a few family photos today near downtown Woodstock, GA.
Missy (my adorable, sassy and oh so fabulous cousin-in-law) was so sweet to take time from her day to snap photos for us.

Such a cute area and offered several artsy photo opportunities. The kids were such troopers as it was boiling HOT. The plan is to go back and do another family shoot in the same location once the fall arrives.

After our photo shoot I treated the kids to lunch at Hot Dog Haven with ice cream afterward. I felt like they really earned a special treat for enduring 2 hours of:

"SMILE!" "STAND HERE...STAND THERE!" "SAY CHEESE!" "SMILE FOR MOMMY!" "LOOK AT THE CAMERA!" "SHOW MISSY YOUR TEETH!" "GIRLS DON'T STOP SMILING!" "SERIOUSLY GUYS...SMILE!":)

Here's a slide show of a FEW photos from today...clearly difficult to get a 2 year old to cooperate, but hey, I'll take what I can get!

50 Days of Summer: Day 35

We got to join the Grundy family (our fabulous neighbors) for their weekly "Grundy Funday Sunday".
The water slide was a hit with the kids and perfect for a hot Georgia day. Needless to say a major meltdown ensued when I took Bryce home for a nap. He did NOT want to leave the fun water slide.

Thanks Grundy's for a fun afternoon!

One of Bryce's many trips down the slide!

Go Sydney!

There goes Jordyn...and Ariel!

Nice form Aidan!

Here comes Bella...and Barbie!

50 Days of Summer: Day 34

NOT trying to offend anyone with this one or get all political, but Bryan and I saw this on the back of a car yesterday while driving home.
We got a good chuckle out of it.

Tee-hee.

Flash Me Friday: Furniture!

This Friday's flash is your favorite piece of furniture. This was a tough choice. I LOVE all my furniture because it was made exactly how I wanted it. Not hard to do when you work for the family furniture business.
Want to check out what we do?
Click HERE for a look at some fine custom furniture!
Yep...that was a shameless plug!!

My choice for favorite piece is our dining room table.
I adore my dining table. It's made from solid reclaimed pine and has a dark walnut stain and lacquer finish. It's paired with tall back mission style chairs with black distressed finish. The wonderful thing about having an old wood table is that it takes the wear and tear of having kids.
Let's say you jab a fork in it...no problem!

It just adds character because it already has natural distress and nails holes. For the record; jabbing forks into the dining table is not encouraged, but is something we have encountered a time or two.

Bryan's choice for favorite furniture is the sectional couch in the basement.
That nice looking comfy spot in the corner where the red pillows are is where you can find Bryan during "quiet time" and definitely during college football season! The couch is so comfy that we hope to put the same exact couch upstairs in the family room when the funds will allow.Minus the UGA pillows ;)

What to join in on the Friday Flash fun??
Head on over to The Groettum Family Blog to learn how.

50 Days of Summer: Day 33

She did it AGAIN! Two in one week. Sydney has lost the other top front tooth. She is officially toothless on the top and it's pretty darn cute! This one came out just like the the other one. It was hanging so I grabbed a wad of toilet paper and twist, twist, twist, twist...this one was tougher than the last...twist, twist and POP! The tooth came out just before bed last night.
(Eww. Makes my stomach turn!)

Big props to the Tooth Fairy for being prepared for such event ahead of time.

Sydney received a dollar bill and TWO fairy headbands and wands. The Tooth Fairy even left a note to share one of the wands with her sister.

Well played Tooth Fairy. Well played.

50 Days of Summer: Day 32

More pictures of the birthday boy celebrating his special day...

Started out with Munchkins for breakfast!

A little playtime with Boss. Clearly Boss is enjoying being rode like a horse.
Bryce says, "Nee-haww".

Birthday Cupcakes after dinner. A little practice blowing out candles before the big party.

"Ohhh...nummy"

Bryce decided that using his hands was too messy. He learned this method from Boss.

Being TWO is so awesome!

I took this photo tonight...just before we took down Bryce's crib.
All 3 of my babies have used this crib. It was hard to watch it leave the room.
We are officially a crib free house.

Our big boy, all 2 years of him getting ready for his first night in his big boy bed!
Technically there is not a bed per say...just mattresses on the floor for now to ease him into the transition.
He got out of bed twice after we put him down, but have heard nothing since.
Success!!

He's TWO already?

Wow.
Today we celebrate Bryce's 2nd birthday.
I say this about all my kids getting older, but I can't believe our baby...our little man is TWO years old. If you would have asked me 3 years ago if my life would include a third child I would have laughed. Little did we know that God had a special little person all lined up for us. Bryce has taught me over the last 2 years so much more than he will ever know.

On Bryce's day of birth we didn't know if what we were having a boy or a girl. The look of excitement on Bryan's face will NEVER leave my mind after they pulled Bryce out (C-Sec). I hear Dr. Street say, "Dad, do you want to tell mom what you have?" Just a few seconds later Bryan's face literally lights up as he does a fist pump, he looks at me and says, "IT'S A BOY!!!".
Every time I replay that moment in my head it makes me smile.

On the other hand I started crying. Ha! I was crying for two reasons:
1. I've always been a big crier at the birth of my kids. It's like a release. Maybe comes from not finding out the sex ahead of time.

2. I was literally thinking... Really? A boy? A penis?
What am I going to do with a stinky boy?
I have an attic FULL of girls clothes, blankets and Care Bears.
Now what?

Little did I know how this little guy was going to keep me on my toes and introduce me to a whole other world so different that little girls.
Little did I know how much I would LOVE it!


Bryce was so tiny. So skinny. He had the skinniest little legs I have ever seen. There was absolutely no meat on his legs what-so-ever. I even took pictures of his little bird legs. We thought nothing of these skinny little legs simply because all of my babies have been on the smaller side. We just figured he was the smallest of our newborns until we got THAT phone call.


The way we were told Bryce might have CF is a story in and of its self. Let's just say there was a major break in the communication line.
But at 3 weeks old sitting in the office with a Pulmonary Dr. and Nurse who came in to talk to us on their off day was a sign that he did indeed have CF.
I held my cool during the meeting. Nodding my head like I understood. Smiling. I think I just kept saying OK. I was blank. Bryan was so great. He was focused on what they were saying and asking questions and having them explain stuff. I literally sat there with an empty head. No thoughts other than to keep it together and not cry.

As soon as the meeting was over and we were alone in the room I completely fell apart. I lost it. I couldn't believe our sweet little baby was sick Why Bryce?
I even had those pity me selfish thoughts: Why us? I don't want to have a sick child. I can't deal with this. I don't WANT to deal with this.

I cried all the way home...I mean cried hard. I was exhausted mentally by the time we got home. At the time my mom was out of work so she was around to help out. We walked in from the meeting and she already knew what we were told by looking at me. I don't remember saying a word.
I walked upstairs and took a nap.

Before I feel asleep I prayed. I simply asked God to help me deal and get through so I could be a good mom to Bryce. After a 2 hour nap I woke up and felt like a new person. All the pity me feelings were gone. My fears were put as ease...still there, but at ease. My thoughts were back to normal and not a jumbled mess.

A noticeable weight had been lifted. I felt totally at peace.

My attitude was completely different after that nap.
I was ready to take on CF and help Bryce anyway that was needed.


So. Here we are. Two years later and we have the most beautiful baby boy. Bryce has been blessed with 2 very healthy years of life. CF hasn't shown us it's ugly side as of yet. We have had a few minor colds and fevers...just like any other kiddo his age. We had one flare up of Pseudo that we treated aggressively and got rid of.
I thank God for every single day Bryce is given. I thank Him everyday for Bryce's continued good health and I pray daily that a cure or a miracle drug is found for Bryce and the entire CF community.

I could not imagine life without our sweet, energetic, sweaty, salty tasting, STINKY little boy.
Happy Birthday Bryce!
We love you!Being all boy. Sweaty and stinky.
I love it.

50 Days of Summer: Day 31

Jordyn summer throwback photos...

Jordyn's first dip into the pool. She was 8 months old.

When we were a family of 4.

One of my all time favorite pictures of Jordyn.
When I think back to Jordyn's baby days this image always pops into my head.
Such a pretty little baby and now a pretty little lady.

50 Days of Summer: Day 30

Yesterday morning I let the dog out to potty as usual. Well, he immediately started barking, which is not typical of him. So I take a peek outside to see what he was all worked up about and saw this little guy waddling around the street. A goose walking around was very exciting for the kids, and I thought the dog was going to go out of him mind.

Of course I had to grab my camera because how often does a goose hang in the cul-de-sac? I'm not sure if he was injured or not. He kept raising his wings up and down, but just kept walking around. I slowly made my way over to him and gave him a snack of whole wheat flat bread...ya know to help him keep his nice goose shape. ;)

After feeding him and snapping a few pics I loaded up the kids in the car to head off for work. As we drove past our little bird friend he was making his way down the street and attracting attention from other neighbors. Hopefully he made it to where he was heading...

50 Days of Summer: Day 29

Sydney summer throwbacks! Her first dip in the pool.

50 Days of Summer: Day 28

How about some "Throw Back" summer photos...

Here are a few summer photos of Bryan and I way before we were ~ Married With Children ~

Please note that I do have a skirt...it's just a really short skirt. I mean what else are you supposed to wear out to da club and stuff...??

Who are these spring chickens??
Here I am with Eminem...oh wait...I mean Bryan.