Are the ant bites better or worse?

So it has been about 1 1/2 weeks since the fire ant attack and we are still dealing with these terrible bites! I have never seen a baby scratch any bite they received until now and poor Brylie has no idea why her legs are driving her so crazy. When they bother her, they really bother her. I have found her scratching them with her finger nails, with the couch (rubbing her legs on the couch as she is sitting), or with the opposite foot. I have even wrapped her legs up so that she couldn't get to them as easily...she got to them. Caladryl lotion doesn't help, but Benadryl does (the oral suspension), and Hydrocortisone cream does too, Thank Goodness!! Although, when we put the cream on, it stimulates the itch. She now knows the word "itch" and uses it frequently. It is usually accompanied by "owies" and whining. My heart just breaks to hear her whine and then to look down and see her gouging her legs raw. I don't have a picture of her scabby legs however, picture about 20 scabs on each leg that looks a little like raw hamburger. Bingo! Poor girl! She is such a trooper!

In other news, if you've never seen what fall looks like in Texas, here's a shot! This is about all the color you get so I got a few pictures. Just so you all know, falls here. I have proof.

Another Milestone...

I can't believe how quickly Brody seems to grow up right before my eyes! It seems that I don't see them like I did with Brylie because I have to split my attention whereas with her, I looked and cared for just her 24/7 and I find myself not doing that. I had heard other moms of more than one child say they had a sense of guilt for not treating the 2nd or 3rd or however many with as much attention as with the 1st and now understand what they were talking about. He is also so quiet that I often find myself letting him play while I do something like load the dishwasher and then remember, "oh yea, where's Brody?" which is why this milestone is a little frightening for me. I can just see the day when I lose him or leave him somewhere because he is so quiet and not demanding of my every attention. I only hope that I have heaven's help reminding me and that I'm worthy to "hear" when it calls. Here are a few videos of Brody waving and crawling! I just love him!! What a blessing children are in our lives!

Blasted Fire Ants!!

So we have been pretty lucky to have avoided fire ants in the 5 or so months we have lived here until today when I decided to let the kids play out in the backyard as a family because it was such nice weather. When all of the sudden I see Brylie whimpering and trying to brush something off her feet. She did have shoes on but when you step dead on to a fire ant hill, they get all over you quickly and start biting. At least that's how I imagine it. So I ran over to her and saw all the ants all over her shoes, socks and legs and picked her up and tried to brush them off. All the while saying, "I don't know what to do Brylie, I don't know what to do!" So I think we got them all off her, I didn't get a bite so I still cannot relate to those of you who have had fire ant bites but poor Brylie can empathize. Here are pictures of the damage and the ruined ant hill!

Heart of Texas Fair and Rodeo!

This weekend we got to go to the Heart of Texas Fair and Rodeo. We had so much fun and I just love doing things with our family!! Brylie LOVED the horses in the Rodeo even though she calls them "cows". We're working on that. She also LOVED the popcorn that Brad bought to snack on. Brody was very excited and would kick and squeal with delight. He is such a happy boy! After watching about 30 minutes of the Rodeo including, the little boys riding the sheep, we went and perused the livestock. The kids were very entertained and they lasted about 1 1/2 hours past their bedtime. Brylie also got to pet some of the more tame animals and fight off the hungry goats. On the entrance door there was a sign that read, "we are not responsible for damage done to clothing by the animals". Good thing Brylie doesn't allow anything to get past her that isn't acceptable. All in all, we had a great time! I love that we are able to do things with the kids and all have a wonderful time!! Thanks Dad for the fun outing!

Is it me?

Lately, we have been working on getting Brody to sleep through the night without waking up to eat like normal babies do. He seemed to do well waking only around 1 am and then around 4 am and then waking for the day around when Brylie woke around 7 am. This started to become an issue for me when I worried (there I go again) that Brylie would wake up at one of those times ready and insistent on being awake for the day when in fact, we still had much needed sleep to get. So we struggled through his waking up and then I just moved Brody into our bedroom in the Pack 'n Play so that I didn't have to worry about Brylie. That just left Brad to get less sleep and then have to be in school at full gear all day long and study into the night. And I wasn't getting the most restful sleep either. So I decided to make Brody cry it out. This was 4 days before Brad went back to school in August so we knew we had to make it work and fast. So here we are about 6 weeks later with Brody sleeping in his own bed, Brylie in her own bed, they go to bed at the same time and just have to deal with the other fussing except that they really don't fuss that much...now. Granted, it took about 4 weeks to get Brody to figure out it's easier to go to sleep than cry hoping that he would be rescued, which rarely happened. So now here it is 8:11 pm and both kids are in bed asleep and have been for 1/2 hour and it took Brody about 1 minute to fuss, calm down and go to sleep. My question is, do we just have awesome kids? Or is it me and Brad and our awesome parenting skills? I don't know about you, but I think it's both!

If you're happy and you know it...

We have a sitter...

And all I can say is how dang cute he looks! I am so amazed how quickly kids learn how to stabilize the necessary muscles in just a day or so. There were a few times today that I put him on his bum away from everything he might bang his head or other body parts on if he tipped over and just let him practice and he was on his bum for about 5 minutes. He has become stable over the last day and now he can sit. I remember when Brylie started to do more which I loved but I also seem to think about all the possible falls and tumbles that can occur and I worry. Just another chance to stress up my life. I do it to myself, you know. Don't worry, (ha ha, I'll do it for you) I'll get over it soon. Here are some pictures. Isn't he getting so big?

The new haircut!

So Brad keeps bugging me about Brylie's mullet (which I don't think she has) so I finally gave in and cut her hair. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be...I just hope it doesn't make her look too grown up.

Our attempt at pictures...

I don't have any professional pictures of the kids since Brylie was 6 months old because she suddenly was mobile and wouldn't hold still and because it was too hard to handle both...call me lazy or unable to handle what I've gotten myself into (2 kids within 13 months of each other) but none the less, it hasn't been done. Also, I've had some bad experiences and so I'm afraid to pay outlandish prices when there is a good chance that the whole experience will go south and we will only get a few pictures, if any, taken. I decided to go cheap this time figuring I could just scan them and whatever so I got the kids all dolled up...they were so cute and we get there and they both start crying...so much so that we had to leave without even one snap of the camera. I was so livid!!! So I tried some of my own and this is what we got. Brylie wouldn't cooperate to save either of our lives so the majority are of Brody. I don't know when we will get a good photo shoot...maybe I'll have to spend the 100.00 sitting fee some charge, who knows. That just might not happen for the next 10 or so years. Until then, I'm becoming a better photographer!?!

Such a big girl!!!

I was just reminiscing the short life of Brylie as I watch Brody grow and develop. I watched the video we took of her when she was 1 hour old and saw how much she has changed and grown. It's funny how babies get big so fast! Suddenly you have a little girl or boy too big to be called baby anymore and it all seemed to happen right before your eyes except you feel like you missed it and a little jipped because it happened so fast...that time will never be coming back. Thank goodness for home videos and pictures that seem to take us back to the times we can't bring back again.

Such a big boy!!!

I couldn't reminisce about Brylie without thinking of our little guy Brody since they are so close in age and look a lot alike. He has grown up so very fast as well and I find myself a little sad when I don't see the "small" baby anymore. He is still considered a "baby" but with his hair coming in thick and his skills improving every day, there's not doubt that that name will soon be striped from him and replaced by little boy faster than I can realize. Again, thank goodness for home video and pictures that can bring back a glimpse of what we so often feel we missed.

...but it's so nice to be home.

We had the fortunate opportunity to take advantage of Brad's time off school and join the cooler side of the country while we visited our parents in Portland, OR. We have looked forward to this trip since May when we booked the plane tickets. We had a wonderful trip despite horrible plane rides to and from Oregon. Both Brody and Brylie were naughty at some point during the flight. When we made it to Portland, Brad said "he was exhausted from wrestling the gorilla" (AKA Brylie) and this is coming from a wrestler. Lucky for me, Brody was easier to manage (I also have the calm down juice readily available)

The first half of our vacation was spent at the Gunnells with Grammie, Pops, Melissa and Lisa. We spent the first day or so reacquainting the kids with everyone which took all of 29 seconds. Brad and I straight away went on a much needed "date" without the kids. We got to see The Dark Knight which we thoroughly enjoyed! What a nice getaway! Then we took the kids to a petting farm, the fountains, downtown Portland and shopping at the outlet mall. There is so much to fill in the gaps...I couldn't possibly name all we did, hopefully the pictures shows you just how much fun we had!


The second half of our trip was spent at the Allens with Grandma, Grandpa and Abby. Again the reacquainting took the same short 29 seconds and then the kids were set. We took the kids to the zoo, swimming at 'the compound', the beach, and the Tillamook cheese factory. Of course, we can't cover our entire trip but will rely on the pictures to help you understand why we love visiting family.

Thanks for such a WONDERFUL trip everyone! We love you all!!!