I know that I've been really bad about keeping the site updated. I've just gone back through and posted all the updates I could think of since October. We've got everything from the holidays, to karate, to losing teeth and climbing ladders.

And one last update... she finally has enough hair to put up in pig tails!

Posted by Amy at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments

It happened today, finally!

Braedan was brushing his teeth and his bottom front tooth fell out! You might recall that we recently visited the dentist after a new tooth discovery. He wasn't sure it would fall out on its own and said it was highly likely all four teeth on the bottom would need to be pulled due to overcrowding. (Not only is his left adult tooth already in, but his right adult tooth is so close to the surface you can see the white under his gums.) Luckily Bradan's tooth became extremely loose in the past 2 days and today, as he set out to brush his teeth, it popped out during the first swipe of the toothbrush!

His first reaction was to freak out. His second reaction was to get really excited that the tooth fairy would bring him some money. ;-)

My first reaction was excitement. My second reaction was a sadness that it was the official beginning of the end of my boy's babyhood. Those little teeth are the last remaining part of baby Bradan. He's growing up so quickly. I just want to savor every last baby bit I can. Where in the heck did five years go anyway?



I thought I would throw this next one in, too. You can totally see his adult tooth, how big it is, and how much it has already come in. :-D

Posted by Amy at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments

I decided that since Thursday was an early release day (1 pm) I would pack up some snacks and surprise Bradan with a trip to the zoo. It was a gamble, really. The last time we went to the zoo it was a disaster from start to finish, but looking back it was all a big snowball that could have been stopped before it started. Anyway...

He was so excited when I picked him up! The zoo is just a quick hop up the highway for us so it we arrived by 1:45. We took a train ride, saw the animals (I threw in some sneaky learning too - go mom!), had snacks, and, more important than anything, connected. I tried to take a bunch of pictures, but in typical format of my kids, they were making horrible, goofy, or drunk-looking faces. ;-) Oh well, it's the memories that matter most, right?

Brady on a turtle:



On the train before leaving the station:



Luna and I (she looks less than thrilled, but she really loved the train ride):



Luna and Brady... she just got done squeezing the heck out of his hand because he was trying to make her do high fives against her will. LOL She doesn't take his crap. It's hilarious.



The elephants were actually dancing. It was wacky. I think they might have been trying to keep warm while snacking:



Luna was snacking while watching the elephants snacking. :-)



We saw this random armadillo in front of the herpetarium (that we had to visit three times thanks to Brady). He was just digging along, completely oblivious to our presence. Luna was absolutely fascinated by him!

Posted by Amy at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments

The gingerbread house (glad I don't live in this neighborhood!)



Mrs. Clause



Lookin' cute



We spent the night at Oma & Opa's house, along with Gramma and Grampa Williams



Kaleigh on her new trike



There's a good chance he might have been excited about this one. Ha ha ha

Posted by Amy at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments

Last night was Bradan's second karate lesson - his first in an actual class setting. He did surprisingly well! I thought he'd be a little more of a misfit, jumping around and not paying attention. Instead he was very well behaved and super focused (for as much as a 5 year old can be). He also "earned" his white belt from Sensei Michael for doing so well his first two classes and minding mommy and daddy in the interim.





He decided last night that he's not going to do tee-ball. He was under the impression that he'd be doing regular Little League, not hitting a ball on a stick. I'm disappointed because I wanted him to have a "team" sport for his social skills, but at the same time, the added expense is not something I will miss!

Posted by Amy at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Comments

Oh, there you are.

Posted by Amy at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments

Today was Kaleigh's 18 month well visit. All is well! She is still above the 95th for height, in the 50th percentile for weight, and 60th percentile for head circumference. After taking all the standardized awareness tests (I think I filled out 5 or 6 pages worth), she was deemed "above average". The doctor said that her progress is outstanding and put to rest my fears that she is speech delayed.

Last night was Bradan's first karate lesson. He had a fantastic time and can not wait until his next lesson on Wednesday. I'm thrilled that he's found something that he's excited about, plus there is the added benefit of some discipline of his mind. He's already taken really well to the "Zero times" rule. Hopefully this will be the start of something really good!

Posted by Amy at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments

Thanksgiving was COLD this year! We went to Georgia to visit Keelan's mom and step-dad. When we arrived it was in the 20s. It warmed up enough to be absolutely pleasant during the rest of the trip. The day we left, however, it was cold and misty-rainy. We had a great time!

Posted by Amy at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments

Kaleigh and I went to Renee's house today. We had a great time playing with the dogs, goats, horses, geese and baby chicks!

Squishing the 24 hour old chick...



Lovin' on Derby...



Kaleigh and Derby waiting patiently for Renee to bring them snacky treats for Derby...

Giving Derby a snacky treat (notice her hand is missing)...

Playing with the Pygmy goats (how cool to have animals your own tiny size?) ...

It's a goat frenzy...

Trying to get the geese to come over...

The funny thing is that she actually got the geese to come over to her, then she proceeded to chase them around the field while they honked crazily. Unfortunately my battery died and I couldn't get any more pictures. Blast technology failing at the wrong moment!

Posted by Amy at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments

Last week we all had a panic attack looking for Miss Kaleigh. Three adults in three different rooms all thought the other had her. All the doors are locked in our house at all times, so there was no chance she was out of the house. We also keep the bathroom doors shut, so no chance she was playing in the tub. After splitting up to search our little home, Keelan called from Bradan's room in a very slight tone, "Found her..."

Turns out she had scaled the bunk bed ladder, again, and was proudly sitting up there waiting to be found. She was silent as a mouse until daddy walked in and saw her, then she busted out laughing as if she had snuck a bottle of wine up there with her sipping while we scoured.

Fast forward to this weekend. I caught her right as she got on the first rung of the ladder. (Which, by the way, has come down.) I called to Keelan to grab the camera since half of the family didn't quite believe that she could do it. Here is the video (I removed the audio since it's on youtube and we say her name over and over). Maybe I should have inserted some fun music to pass the time?




Also, just so you know, I was within arm's reach of her the entire time. She was not in any danger.

Posted by Amy at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments

Our Jedi knight:



Our little fairy:



Trying to get a good picture together:



Our pumpkin. It's a goblin trick-or-treating:



All lit up:

Posted by Amy at 6:11 PM | Permalink | Comments

Kaleigh is just getting over hand, foot and mouth disease. I promise more updates will be coming as soon as I get my head together. :-)

Posted by Amy at 4:57 PM | Permalink | Comments

The kids have both been sick this weekend with croup. It's fun stuff.

I took to amusing Kaleigh with the box from her new car seat (pictures below). She loved it. Who would have thought that a box and a dog would be more amusing than all the toys in the world? Hahaha





Kaleigh, sportin' her new seat out of the box, and then in the car. Please excuse her goofy face in this first picture!





Braedan, playing in the seat when I took it out of the box:

Posted by Amy at 7:34 AM | Permalink | Comments

We've just finally gotten out of the constant rain that has been Tropical Storm Fay. Who would have thought one little TS would bring so much rain? From what the news report said tonight, it looks like our little town here got between 18" and 20" of rain.

Anyone who has been through Oviedo has been by the Duda Sod Farm, right? Well, here's a video of the "farm" from today... to be known for the time being as Lake Duda. This flood also extends to the driving range next door. Both sides of Red Bug were flooded like this. It was truly amazing. There were white caps on the water! Keelan and I estimated it was probably 4 feet deep.

Posted by Amy at 6:39 PM | Permalink | Comments

Kaleigh made a new friend yesterday. Our next door neighbor's daughter and grandchildren are visiting. This little girl is 2 months older than Kaleigh and had on shoes, whereas K was barefoot, and Kaleigh was still bigger by a smidge. Gotta love those tall Keelan genes!



In other news, Braedan got his glasses today. He's got 20/30- vision, but also astigmatism, so the optometrist said he should have glasses for seeing the board in class. I let him pick the glasses out and throughout the day he got used to wearing them. The jury is still out on whether he'll wear them at school when we're not there to remind him!







(Had to throw this one in... Kaleigh wearing my glasses.)

Posted by Amy at 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments

It's Braedan's first day of Kindergarten. He was excited, we were excited, even Kaleigh was excited!







The little boy in the red shirt next to him in this picture, Ty, sits next to him in his little group of desks.




The nice lady in the foreground with the red lanyard around her neck is his teacher.

Posted by Amy at 6:37 AM | Permalink | Comments