Kaboost

Since we've passed the high chair on to Emma and Kolton's refuses to sit in a booster seat we decided to get him a Kaboost. It's pretty much like a chair lift, and it's awesome. My friends have one and I thought it was the neatest thing ever. Now Kolton can sit at the table comfortably.
(This picture cracks me up. It's like he's saying "Get outta here mom! I just want to eat in peace!")

Btw, I'm sorry for such the poor quality on most of my photos. I use my camera phone alot now, and I just use those pictures.

Teefies!

Is it just me, or do my kids grow at rocket speed? I mean, who is this big girl right here?

Can't be my daughter. My daughter is a teeny tiny baby girl. My baby girl most definitely doesn't crawl everywhere..cruise everywhere.. or even have a TOOTH! I can't believe it! We didn't even know that she had a tooth actually break through. She was a little fussy for a day and that was it. I mean, she handled it way better than her brother... (sorry Kolt!) But yea, one teefie has popped through! It's still so tiny I couldn't get a picture of it. But as you can tell from the photo Emma's already putting it to good use of eating everything (as if she didn't before)

Recipe

One thing that people may not know about my husband is he loves to cook AND thank goodness he's a GREAT cook. He loves finding new recipes and trying them out, and more times than not they turn out great. If I could have him do all the cooking I would!

I've been wanting to share his recent recipe that he got from here

Ingredients

2 slices white bread, crusts removed and crumbled

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 teaspoons OLD BAY® Seasoning or 2 teaspoons OLD BAY® 30% Less Sodium Seasoning

2 teaspoons McCormick® Parsley Flakes

1/2 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard

1 egg, beaten

1 pound lump crabmeat

Directions

In a large bowl, mix bread, mayo, OLD BAY, parsley, mustard and egg until well blended. Gently stir in crabmeat. Shape into 4 patties.
Broil 10 minutes without turning or fry until golden brown on both sides. Sprinkle lovingly and liberally with OLD BAY. Smile. Serve.

And can I just tell you how yummy these things were? We have a great area next to where we live that we always go because they have THE BEST crab cakes. After having these, I'll never order another crab cake at a restaurant again! One, my husband made them for literally half the price of an entree AND they taste just as good, if not better!

(I'm not sure how easy or hard it would be for you to find jumbo lump crab in your area. We just checked at our favorite butcher and they had tons of choices. However, we do live where crab is common)

Being Dr Mom

It's my least favorite part of the Mommy job.. being a doctor to my babies. Only because I HATE seeing them sick. Emma's being snotty sounding for the past week and I just chalked it up to teething, but yesterday while we had company Kolton just laid around all day and even they knew that was a sign of him not feeling well. I enjoy the cuddle time that comes with them being sick, but hate to hear the horrible breathing and see the snuffy nose. My poor babies.. fingers crossed they heal soon.

Here's Kolton watching a movie with mommy with his sister's Minnie doll, lol

and here's Emma totally exhausted.. she just fell asleep in her jumperoo..

Our weekend..

Every weekend I say "We're going to have a LAZY weekend this weekend! Stay in PJS and relax ALL DAY!" and every weekend, we DON'T! Usually by Saturday morning I realize the kids (and me) are getting stir crazy so we have to find something to do. A couple of us and our kids decided to take the kids to a little playhouse that my friend found. It gave the kids something to do while us adults could enjoy A/C ! :) The playhouse just so happened to be down the street of the Bethesda location of Georgetown Cupcake.. you know, the infamous DC Cupcakes show on TLC. So I knew we had to get some before we left town! We got to the playhouse earlier than our friends so we decide to ride by Georgetown Cupcake and see how long the line was.. shockingly it wasn't bad at all.


So after the kids played, all of us adults decided that we wanted cupcakes. So we waited out in 110 degree weather for these cupcakes. and can I just say it was worth every bit of sweat!? We got a couple flavors, Red Velvet (their signature), Peanut Butter Fudge, and Salted Caramel. While the red velvet was ok, the salted caramel was amazing. Hands down my favorite thing ever!

Then Sunday we had some friends over so we (everyone but me, ha!) could watch the race and grill out. Sunday was a lovely day of grilling out and being lazy with some good friends. I couldn't tell you who won the race, but we still had a good time.


By Sunday night we were all totally exhausted, but it was one of the best weekends we've had in a long time! I'm so thankful for our wonderful life and all the awesome people in it!!

Hot Mess Emma...

Emma has many nicknames, but only occasionally is one mentioned. Emma is teething like crazy these days and I can honestly say for the most part she's doing fine, but some days she's pretty cranky and there's no satisfying her. Those are usually the days we don't bother going out of the house and we just stay lazy in our PJs.

Emma started this new thing of when she gets excited she claps. I think it's the most adorable thing, and I had to share it. She does it all the time, but this video is from one of her "Hot Mess Emma" days...so please excuse the fact she looks like a hot mess.


Also, excuse the random tennis shoe laying around. Anyone that knows my son knows he's obsessed with putting peoples shoes on, so he had that out playing with it.

...knock on wood...

Well, I've been holding off on an update about Kolton and his big boy bed, because I didn't want to jinx it. But it's been a good couple of days and I think it's safe to say it WONT be going back to a crib. He's done such an amazing job. I didn't expect it to be this easy, but I'm so glad and proud of my little man. We were a little nervous about the morning time. Usually I'm awake when he wakes up because I've been up with Emma, but we worried if some odd chance he wakes up before us and goes and destroys the house (I'm almost positive everything is baby proofed). I told Adam not to worry, that I figured Kolton would wake up and cry until someone comes and gets him. Boy was I wrong. The first day Adam and I was in our room and we heard his door pop open, and here he comes running into our room. WHAT A BIG BOY! It's the cutest thing. He just wakes up and comes out of his room like, "Oh good morning everyone!" Ha! That's another thing, I swear he wakes up in such a better mood. Here lately he's been going to bed about 8/9ish and waking up about 7ish. I'm not sure if he was just getting too much sleep (Is there really such a thing?!) before, or what..but now he wakes up refreshed and cute as a button.


To celebrate how great he's been doing we took him to get a surprise. Taking an almost 2 year old (wow, really?) into a toy section is hilarious. He was so torn on which thing to reach for he was going a mile a minute. Although Kolton's go to is "BALL! BALL!!" that kid wakes up saying ball and goes to sleep saying ball. It's hilarious. We talked him into get a Mr Potato Head, and so far he likes it. Having him keep the "choking hazards" (as Adam calls the teeny tiny parts) away from his sister is a little difficult though, lol.

Here goes nothing..

So, I think I'm the last person to jump on the Twilight series bandwagon, but I'ma give it a-go. I've watched the first movie, and it was good. It didn't make me want to pitch a tent outside of the movie theater and wait for the next movie to come out...but it was good. Every person I've told that I'm just not that into the series says "You HAVE to read the books!" So, my husband order the books for me, and I'm going to start them! I've been wanting to start back reading, and even picked up a book while Kolton and I was at the library but I just haven't been that into the book. So maybe Twilight will be better?

Here's the book that I picked up, ever heard of it? Should I keep reading?

sheeeeeezball

This weekend we had a few items we needed from my favorite place...COSTCO!! I LOVE that place! They have the best shopping carts EVER.

You can go to that place and leave with a full belly from all the samples they give out! The kids got hungry while we were looking around so I grabbed a couple samples of yogurt and cheese for them. Oh yeah, that's the beauty of Costco.

Oh and my son's new favorite word? Sheezbaaall...

Love Light Room!

My husband recently got me Lightroom (the photo editing software) and I'm in love. I've always been interested in photography, and I'm taking pictures of ANYTHING so now I'm even more excited to be able to edit my own photos. Here's a couple... (Now, believe me I have a lot to learn about the software so hopefully my pictures will only get better)

"It's apart of growing up, and you're not a baby anymore.. You're a big boy!"

Hearing my husband tell my son that tonight about broke my heart. You see, the reason he was telling him that is so he understood why we switched his crib to a big boy bed. That's right, big day in the Bragg house.

I'm not sure why, but my husband and I decided that it was time Kolton be switched to a big boy bed. He does so well in his crib, and here lately he'll grab his mickey and blanket and head to his room like he's trying to tell us he wants to lay down. So we thought maybe this will give him the option of laying down...? Maybe? So far he's doing great. But like I said it's the first night, so we'll see. The first night SHOULD be the hardest, right? And fingers crossed that I don't wake up in the morning with my son helping himself to tearing up the house?

Now I'm on the look out for cute toddler bedding. We're thinking about doing his room in Toy Story for now.



and just for the record, these two will ALWAYS be my babies.. ;)

It's hard out here for a baby..

Tonight at dinner Emma kept falling asleep in her walker. At first I wasn't sure what she was doing, and kind of panicked and made sure she wasn't like choking or anything, lol. When we finally realized she was falling asleep I grabbed the camera. It's so funny that she did this, because Adam and I just talked about how we didn't believe all the people on America's Funniest Home Videos when they show the videos of kids falling asleep in their high chair, because Kolton's never done it. Well, Emma did! Ha, check it out. And please excuse the music in the background, that would be my son watching Alvin and The Chipmunks. (that's right, my daughter ate in her walker and my son watched TV while he ate dinner. Don't judge me.)

One-on-One

My friend and I were talking about how we think it's important to have individual time with different children. Each child will have it's own interest, and letting them have their own time with Mommy or Daddy will make them feel extra special.

Even though Kolton&Emma are young, I still try to do this. I feel like there was a bond made with Kolton and us before Emma was here, so I want to give her one on one time, but also I feel like when I was tired and pregnant with Emma, it costed Kolton of some of his only time. Either way, I want to start by giving them individual attention now. As long as I have a helping husband that gets to bond with the other child, I think it's only going to be a positive decision. :)

So after naptime yesterday Kolton and I headed to the library and farmer's market. Our library has an awesome play area for kids. I left Kolton in the stroller while he played with the toys. I think the workers were already eyeballing my rambunctious toddler already, so I can only imagine the havoc he'd cause if he was turned lose. He enjoyed all the gadgets and toys they had though. He even sat and read a couple books. He loved the Barney book, and they had one with pictures of Cheerios in it and he kept trying to pick them up and eat them, ha! I picked up a book for myself, and then headed to the farmers market. The FM is ran by the local Amish farmers in the area and they set up right in the library parking lot. We picked up some potatoes for dinner and checked out everything they had. I tried to show Kolton the different fruits and veggies they had, but every time he saw a melon he'd say "Ball!" He was heartbroken when we got to the car because momma didn't buy him a "Ball!". It was so hot outside, so we ran to Wawa and picked up some juice and headed home. Every moment I spend with this little guy I'm more amazed on how fast he's growing. I'm trying so hard to soak it up.


Earlier in the week Emma and I went to town to doing a little shopping. While in Mississippi I had seen a cute chalk board at a local boutique and didn't pick it up. I'm not kicking myself in the butt for not getting it, so I wanted to look for one or atleast the stuff to make one myself. The stores we hit up were all in a plaza so I just put Emma in the stroller and we went from store to store. She's such a good baby! She stayed so content the whole time and just looked around. Hardly made a peep. After all the looking around (and walking in the blasting heat) we (or momma) decided to make a stop at Starbucks. This was the first time my sweet girl hit up Starbucks with me, but I guarantee it wasn't the last. We had fun. I enjoy having her as a little tag along.
Here's my sleepy girl on the way home. She was so tired...

Happy Birthday!!

Happy birthday to my niece Mackenzie! :) Mackenzie is so important to her Uncle and me (as well as "the brothers") I was in the delivery room with my sister when she was born, and I just adore the fact that I was so involved in her birth. She's just about one of my very favorite person. She's sharp as a tack and sassy as can be. I hope you have a very great birthday my love, and enjoy your pool party at Nana and PawPaw's house. You know the Bragg family wishes we could be there!



This pictures was taken when Mackenzie was going on two years old! Today is her sixth birthday!! My how time flies!!

Down a notch..

You don't know how excited I am about this post! This is my sweet Paisley girl's first ACTIVE video debut! I had put her down for a nap and could hear her playing in her crib. I grabbed my phone to video her being silly, not expecting to see what I did. Check it out..



This is already the second level. Her crib only has 3 levels, so we'll be moving her to the last one. She's a monkey already, just like her brother! What did I eat/drink during my pregnancies to make my kids so wild? ;)

Also, Miss Emma thinks she's sneaky. She's starting a collection of pacifiers behind her bed.

My favorite day of the week!

It's amazing the amount of stuff you can get accomplished before noon if you wake up early. My day usually starts about 6am and I have majority of my stuff finished before naptime. Then at naptime I can catch up on my dvr (if I'm lucky to have both kids down for a nap). We have a pretty consistent routine in the Bragg house. I always tell Adam the normalcy of our lives would blow alot of people away. My high school friends always crack up at seeing me as a mother. It's much different than when I was a teenager. Isn't that what it's about though? Growing as a person, and maturing.

Anyhoo. Every Friday we treat Kolton to lunch from one of his favorite restaurants. Usually we'll leave from the gym and grab him something to go from somewhere. Today however, I skipped the gym and went shopping (ha!) We had to run some errands so I decided to take the kids to the mall while I exchanged some stuff, and afterwards let Kolton play in the play area they have. I love seeing him interact with kids his own age, and he reminds me alot of when I was a kid (or atleast what I remember) He's not shy one bit, and he tries to make friends with everyone. After he played his heart there we grabbed some lunch at Chic-Fil-A! Now the kids (and mommy) are enjoying some peace and quiet while they nap. :) I swear, every Friday is so enjoyable. It's my favorite day.






(sorry the photos are such poor quality. I took them with my cellphone.)

Rats!

We all know about The Cookie Mama, right? Well, during our MS trip I was able to not only MEET her (jealous, I know!) AND enjoy her adorable cookies. Check out these cookies...



My friend Jenifer was awesome enough to hook us up with these cookies. Each cookie design has a back story that's hilarious to us. So the cookies were extra special.

Here's the two cookie monsters FINALLY getting their cookies (I'm not sure who was more excited Mac or Adam)



Make sure you check out The Cookie Mama's site!!

Down in Mississippi Up to No Good

We have some very good friends that we met at our first base who live in Mississippi. They're about to make a move to Little Rock, Arkansas where my friend's husband will be stationed as an officer! We're so proud of them, and it had been a couple months since we've seen them so we decided to go see them in their hometown of Columbus, MS before they leave.

The downtown of Columbus is my favorite. It's the historic district and has cute boutiques (my favorite). Besides a little bit of shopping and lots of eating, we mostly just enjoyed each others company at the Jones' house or swimming in Jenifer's parents awesome pool! Here's some pictures of the trip..






It was so great seeing the kids interact. Jenifer and I had ran out to get some coffee (just like old times) and I asked if she'd ever imagine that there'd be a day that our kids would be just as close as we were. ;)

Thanks so much for having us Josh, Jenifer, and Mackenzie (and pups)...see you in 6 months ;)

Well, hello there!

Wow! Has it really been 7 months since I've posted something? Don't let me fool you, I'm not really that busy -ha! I plan on starting to post more often (heard that before, eh?). I really want to keep my family updated and keep a "journal" for my memory.


So let's skip the song and dance and get right into the updating!

We have actually been staying a teeny bit busy with two wild rascals (and our two fur rascals) The kids are growing like weeds and getting smarter each day.

Let's start with Kolton first


Of course, I think he's a genius but he is quite the smart boy. You know that saying "Too smart for you're own good"? Well, that's Kolton. He's more interested in exploring and seeing what he can get into than play with blocks or some other boring toy. He loves to be outside. Running, climbing, chasing the dogs, playing in his little pool..anything that keeps him moving. He's ALL boy. Snips and snails, right? The only time you can get this boy to sit still (a minute or two) is while he's watching his favorite movie Alvin and the Chipmunks The Squeakal! He loves to dance, so everytime music comes on he shakes what his momma gave him! Kolton is at the fun age, where he's learning something new everything and enjoys it. I love seeing the excitement on his face. Sometimes if you catch him at juuuust the right time he's quite the cuddle bunny. :) He can sign several words -milk, more, and please. (We decided to teach him sign language to help him communicate with US better, and it's been a life saver!) He can say no, sissy, Gracie, ball (his favorite), and several others.

Now for my sweet Emma girl

Emma just turned 8 months (Can you believe?) It's hard for me to grasp that in less than 4 months I'll be celebrating her one year old birthday. Feels like we just brought her home. Emma has been SUCH a great baby since day one. She's developing quite the personality and she's just as smart as her brother. She's crawling and starting to pull up and stand. The first thing you notice (other than how dang cute she is) is her gorgeous hair. She has the best hair a baby could wish for. It's a chocolate brown color with some curl/wave, and 99% of the time she has a bow in it. ;) She's sleeping through the night. (Her and Kolton sleep about 12 hours at night. Yes!) She'll eat anything you put in front of her (seriously!) Just recently she ate THREE hushpuppies! So I have to keep an eye on her when her brother is around, he likes to share his big boy treats (We're sticking to the no sugar rule for her too). She's in a big girl convertible carseat and does better than when she was in the carrier. All in all she's a wonderful baby!

So there's a little update for you on the kids and like I said, I do plan on posting more often. :)