Braggin' Wagon Wednesday: Sorta...

I don't really have anything to brag about this week, except how cute my kids are. So.....

I thought the way the sunlight hit Ivy's hair made it look crazy, like it might catch fire.

She just wants to be one of the boys..Notice the big bruise on her forehead (not from the slide, but from playing with her crazy brothers)

Dexy apparently came into our bed in the night...we didn't know until morning. Scott snapped this pic of us cuddling in our sleep.

playing with dolls.

Decked out in their Easter clothes

Don't they look like little Dapper Dans'!

Ivy looks so adorable!

And the whole family right before church.

Braggin' Wagon Wednesday

Ivy is 17 months old today. We set a goal a few months ago when she finally started crawl/scooting that we wanted her to be walking by 18 months. We worked hard, practiced everyday. She would take 3 or 4 steps between me and Scott or the physical therapist, and was doing awesome. Well last week while my sister's family was visiting for spring break, she did it. She started walking on her own. She can actually stand up in the middle of the floor without help from anybody, and slowly make it to her destination. She falls a lot, and can't do it with shoes on, but the important thing is that she can do it. A full month before our goal date. She's a superstar.

Whenever Ivy hits a milestone it seems so amazing to me. Far more amazing than when her brothers hit those milestones. She's always late, but she has to work so hard to hit them that they seem like more of an accomplishment. I'm always so proud. (Not that I wasn't proud of the boys, but they all came without effort for them). When I think about how almost two years ago when we found out she would be born with some problems, and we didn't know if she would live, or if she did what kind of life she would have, it still makes me cry. I look at her cute little face and sweet personality and feel blessed everyday. She's a perfect little person with an imperfect little heart and lives everyday fighting for what comes easy to others. She is so amazing, and seeing her tiny, 3rd percentile little body finally walking around the living room has me in awe. You are a miracle Ivy and truly give me reason to brag. I'm grateful everyday that I get to be your mom. Love you babe, keep up the good work!

Spring break

We had a great spring break! It started off with us going to Monkey Bizness with Collette and the kids and some other wives and kids of the dotcomsecret family. The kids had tons of fun in all the chaos, and I somehow managed not to have a panic attack. It was crowded and the boys were easily lost, but I always found them and they always came back. Dex was camera shy and wouldn't go down the giant slide if I had the camera out, so I had to sneak the pics of him. Even Ivy got in on the action in the under 3 years old zone. She loved climbing on things and going down the mini slide. She was so tired since it was nap time, but was such a good sport.

Ascending the stairs to the giant slide

Corbin sliding down

Corbin up high in the jungle gym

And Dexter too

Ivy takes a ride on the duck

And then boards the pirate ship

And a sneaky pic of Dex sliding down on his belly

The day after Monkey Bizness my sister Max, her husband Mark, and their kids Jeff, Regin and Andrew came to visit for a few days. We love having visitors and we had so much fun with them. Unfortunately it was a cold weekend and we didn't get to do some of the fun things we wanted to, and the older kids were probably pretty bored much of the time. But I thought it was fun just to have them around. Regin latched right onto Ivy and Ivy just loved her. Regin would help Ivy practice walking, and hold her while I was busy, and babysit while Corbin and Dex were in the bath. She was such a good helper, I wish she was always around. The adults stayed up late at night playing games or talking and giggling, and acting silly. It was just like old times. The kids all colored eggs (and their hands) together, and they spent Easter with us. We couldn't have had a better time! Thanks for coming guys, we miss you already!

Coloring Eggs

Still Coloring eggs

Apparently we bought an awesome brand because everyones hands were stained

Easter baskets

Playing with the silly string from their baskets

Elmo Ivy

From left to right: Jeff, Ivy, Dex, Drew, Corbin, and Regin

Braggin' Wagon Wednesday

The first thing to brag about, Dexter is officially potty-trained!! I know I've talked about this a lot lately, but its just so exciting! He finally figured out how to go number two in the potty! Oh glorious day! I'm not saying he will be 100% perfect from now on, but it's better than 0%! If Ivy was walking right now, I might make her do it too! Alas, she might not be ready yet....I'll give her another year, then its on!

He's going to be so mad at me one day for putting this pic up, but its so cute. He's so excited!

Next, my sister, Max and her family are coming to visit us for Easter. They should arrive sometime this afternoon. I'm super excited. We don't get too many visitors around here. Maybe this shouldn't be considered bragging, but its my blog and I can do what I want!

Due to my sisters family coming to visit, my house is CLEAN! This is really exciting since its a little rare. I've spent far too much time cleaning the last few days, especially because I'm sure they don't care if its clean or not.....but I care, and that's what matters.

And finally, I've been working out A LOT lately. My arms, butt and love handle areas are sore, but it feels so good! This morning when I reluctantly stepped on the scale (since I just weighed myself yesterday), I'd lost two pounds. Awesome!

Dexter turns three

Today is Dexter's third birthday. In honor of this occasion, here are a few things about Dex that you may not know.

1. He can sing the ABC's and count to 10. He also knows all his colors and shapes.

2. He almost bit his tongue off when he was 16 months old. He now has a permanent scar on his tongue. It was then that we realized his extremely high tolerance for pain.

3. He is probably our least shy child. He's the only one that will speak to a stranger (with some coaxing) the other two just stare at them.

4. When I say "I love you" he always says it back, and is usually quick to give me a hug or kiss.

5. He's totally potty trained on the number one side. Still getting there with number two.

6. He has the Brunson obsession gene. He's currently obsessed with, his hat, his spiderman shoes, his star jammies, toy story, poobah, and spongebob.

7. He's camera shy, he hates it when I try to take a picture of him, and usually runs or covers his face.

8. He always makes weird faces. Whether its on purpose or not. People always think he's mad because he has an almost permanent super cute scowl.

Now here's some pics from his birthday party yesterday, and then one of him and the other two dressed up for church today.

The Very First Braggin' Wagon Wednesday

A new weekly post in which I brag. I know exciting right. This week features three videos of my adorable kids. THEY ARE SHORT, so don't freak out.

Video one: Dexter Solves the Rubik's cube!

here's the link

Video Two: Corbin is a writer!

here's the link

Video Three: Ivy takes a few steps!

Here's the link

Also, (not archived in video because its......well, gross) Dexter is well on his way to being completely potty trained. I started potty training on the 13th with the goal of being done by his b-day, but had almost given up hope by the 22nd because he still hadn't gone in the potty once. Scott and I were preparing to deal with it forever and in 20 years send him off on his honeymoon in a diaper! Later, on the 22nd, he finally did it for the first time and got super excited, and now, he goes pee pee in the potty every time! Still hasn't gone number two, but its only a matter of time! YAY DEXY!

A Couple Things....

I'm busy potty training Dexter right now. I'm totally convinced that this is the absolute most horrible part of parenting. My mom tells me that when your kids start to drive, that's worse. I don't believe her. I can't imagine that anything is worse than cleaning diarrhea out of underwear and then off your child's bottom and legs only to have him lose his balance and fall right on your leg so that he isn't the only one who gets to experience it. That's right, it actually happened. I hate it so much! Maybe when my kids are 16 I'll have forgotten of these horrors, but I doubt it. I feel traumatized.

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Corbin wore his shirt backwards last week. I didn't notice until I was dropping him off at preschool. I hurried and made him fix it, but I felt silly for not noticing before. On Sunday he wore his pants backwards. I didn't notice until AFTER we came home from church.....I wonder if anyone else noticed.

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Do you ever watch Community on NBC? I love that show. I started watching it because I am a big Joel McHale fan (the soup is my favorite friday night programming, and really the only show I can stand on E!) But I continue to watch it for Donald Glover. He is dang funny! The show is on Thursday nights, in case you were wondering.

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My next-door neighbors are moving. I'm happy. They always park their car in front of my house, even when there is plenty of room in front of their own house. It drives me crazy. They also have a dog, so whenever my kids play in the backyard, it barks at them. And the backyard stinks like dog poop, which is very unpleasant. They also have a cat, it poops in our yard. I hate that.

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I need to get my kids some Easter clothes. Any idea where I can get some for semi-cheap, that are still cute? I was thinking Burlington Coat Factory...What do you think?