How Did He Know?

The entire time I was raking our yard he kept running and jumping in the piles of leaves. This from a boy who had only ever seen maybe a dead palm leaf on the grass in California - are boys just instinctive??? Is it part of their DNA that a pile of anything must be jumped in?

P.S. As hard as our yard was to mow (which the season for having to mow is now over) - it is even harder to rake! The joys of having four seasons....and don't get me wrong - I LOVE having four seasons and having the leaves in the yard and seeing them change colors on the trees. This is definitely my favorite time of year.

Decision 2008!

Brandon laughs at my election day cheesey-ness, but I think it is cool! The kids and I went and early-voted last Wednesday - it was a breeze even with the little ones with me. Brody had such a good time he went later that evening with daddy. We were in the midst of preparing for Halloween, so Brody went half way dressed as a magician. I think the old people volunteering at the polling place get a kick out of stuff like that, so I am happy to oblige. Brandon was a little embarrassed that I'd let him go out like that, but I thought it was cute. Besides, there are plenty of opportunities for me to get embarrassed when I am out with the kids so it wouldn't hurt for Brandon to do it, right? Not only was Brody dressed in his costume, but we were trying to get him to get in the mode of saying "trick or treat". Well, Daddy must have expressed some political opinions to him on the way to the polls and he came home saying "No Obama" instead. He also learned who John McCain and Sarah Palin were - although what he remembers most and tells me everyday is that Daddy voted for No Obama. Its really cute coming from an innocent 2 year old.

My biggest cheesy-ness tradition started when I was in the sixth grade - back in 1992. Our homework assignment was to color a map the red states that voted republican and the blue states that voted democrat. It stuck. I have done this every election since then, and I LOVE it! I have a great time on election night watching the news and coloring in the US map. I plan on doing it tonight, and I will even print a map for Brody to color while he watches along. I guess I have to have something to do to keep my mind off the possibility of the election not going my way. So far I have always had my way, so maybe I am as good an indicator as the weather or the Redskins football team. Either way - we will have our "red white and blue" dinner, Brody is sporting his USA shirt today (Ella would too - but she's grown a lot since July!), and we will color in our maps while we watch the returns come in. We are very grateful for the electoral process (even if it doesn't always work flawlessly) and our hope and prayer is that whoever does get elected is able to remember the freedoms that our people have fought to protect for so long.

AND - we are thinking happy hopeful thoughts for our family in California! May all your hard work and time put into supporting Prop 8 pay off! We've been contacting any friends that we have in California to let them know why they should support Prop 8, and praying that the people of California will support families and the freedom to have moral beliefs. Good luck!

The Great Brodini & His Bunny Ella

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Jack! A little paper mache and some construction paper and whalla! We wore them to a masquerade party last weekend which was a lot of fun. The kids really didn't know what to think!Last night we decorated sugar cookies - a family favortie! Brody was a super good helper and helped mommy bake them and then worked with daddy to frost them.
Its the Great Brodini and his lovely bunny Ella!! I have to say - I think they are the cutest little trick or treaters there are. Ella's costume was made using the same pattern as Brody's monkey from two years ago (with a few minor changes) - so we are now dealing with the fur that is everywhere!Abra Cadabra! Isn't he handsome?? He won a little award for best costume at our trunk or treat (they were giving lots out) - but I did get more comments on his costume then Ella's.
Our candy helper. She wore the costume most of the night and finally when she was done trick or treating I took the hat off her and she was so sweaty! You can see her hair is all wet. She wasn't smiling much tonight - I bet she was just thinking, "Thanks a lot mom." Brandon thinks of the Christmas Story when he sees her instead of Halloween.

Mommy and Daughter!
We tried at the end of the night for a family photo - probably not a great idea, Ella is pulling her hat off and Brody is mad and refusing to look at the camera.
AND!! On our way home we saw this...we are back in the $1 range! Hooray!

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What we've been up to

We have had a fun and busy couple of weeks - it seemed to go by too fast. This will be a brief update - Brandon's waiting for me to watch a movie while our kidos nap. Ella is officially 9 months old and starting to eat table foods. She loves it! Brody was a kid who picked up one cheerio at a time - not this girl...she gets her whole fist in the action. It is sad to see her growing so fast but the independence that she is gaining is so fun to watch.
Ella and I took a quick weekend trip to California to see my new nephew Aiden and spend some time with our family. It was Ella's first airplane ride and she did really well. She is a busy girl so I just had to be creative to keep her entertained - she tore threw most of the sky mall magazine and flirted with the old man sitting behind us. I haven't yet had a child who will willingly sleep in public - so sleep wasn't an option (despite it being an early flight, thus the pajamas on the plane) The picture was in the terminal before boarding.

We went to the pumpkin patch and got some cute pictures with the family - Ella was really tired by this point so she kept the same serious look on her face most of the rest of the day. I was so excited to see everyone - and especially to bump into our friends and former playgroup and meet all the new babies!

We had a baby shower for Aiden while I was there and it was a lot of fun to get to know him and cuddle him while he is still tiny. I was really excited to see my good friend Erin and her girls Molly and Hannah - these girls are Brody's most best friends. He still talks about how they live in California and he has even calls our van his Molly Hannah car - because Erin was the first to introduce us to the Odyssey. It was fun to see the girls interact with Ella and be so excited to see her again. The last time we saw each other was the day we moved and Ella was only 2 1/2 weeks old. Now they are getting ready to have a new baby sister!! Yeah!
There aren't many pictures of Brody, but it is only because I had the camera in California when he was home with his daddy. They had a very fun boys weekend and spent time running crazy, going on walks and playing at the park. He was most excited about having lunch at taco bell and picking out our pumpkins. We went to the park this afternoon for a picnic and then walked around the lake. It was a fun day out there - as Brody would say. Little did he know we were just trying to wear him out! He is rebelling on napping again, much to my chagrin. I should know all I have to do is make him run a mile (which he does - literally) before making him lay down. He is ALL BOY and letting me know it! For those who have asked about his "condition" it has improved so much. We are keeping with the doctors plans for him and he has had much success and hasn't complained about pain at all lately. We are very grateful for the improvement and having our Brody back.

Stay tuned for Halloween pictures!! I finished Ella's costume and Brody's is almost done. Even Brandon and I have costumes this year.

Getting Back to Normal

I have been trying to get back into a normal routine - it seems like the last month we've been just living from day to day - but now - I am trying to make a come back. The treatment plan that the specialist came up with last week for Brody seems to be helping and we have had less and less nighttime crying. We started him on a laxative and we just continue to go up and up on the dose until we find a level where his intestines are happy and he is pooping regularly. It sure has made potty training interesting! He is doing much better though and we are hopeful that we won't have to pursue any more testing. I know he'll be embarassed years down the road when he finds out his mother was talking about his bowels openly on the internet - but it was rough on me, and he is two - he'll have to deal with it.

We really enjoyed conference weekend and spending much needed down time together as a family. The weather has made long walks and time at the park so enjoyable. Our days are now getting back to regular cleaning, coloring books and picnics with friends at the park - just as they should be!

Brody and Daddy mowing the lawn together.

In the midst of all the madness, life did go on (a little bit anyways) and Ella has continued to grow too fast for us. She climbed the entire staircase herself this week - stopping every 3 or 4 steps to wave and laugh at all the rest of us watching her. Maybe I shouldn't encourage her, but the look on her face of how proud she is of herself is priceless! She's got to learn sometime, right? She is also regularly pulling up and standing on anything she can get too, wearing her very first pony tail today, cutting 5 teeth on her top gums, and clapping her hands and dancing whenever she hears music. I love it!

Ella's first pony tail

We also got a chance to go to the Texas State Fair with my Award Winning Mother! She took First Place for her afghan that she entered and she took Fourth Place for Ella's blessing dress that she entered. It was a fun day of walking around and seeing all the entries and other fair exhibits and trying all the Deep Fried Foods that won. I don't have the stomach for much, but if I had to choose a favorite it would probably have been the Deep Fried Jelly Bellys. It was like a jelly doughnut because the jelly beans melted on the inside. Those were good. The deep fried banana split was really over-rated, as was the deep fried pineapple ice cream. Ive been told that we missed out on the best which was the deep fried grilled cheese sandwich. I wasn't too sure on that one, but now hearing that it is served with tomato soup makes it more appealing. Brody's favorites were the popscicles. Thats all he wanted that day. He and Ella were wiped out! I don't think I have ever had either of them both asleep in the stroller at the same time. We rode the Texas Star - known for being the biggest ferris wheel in North America. It was a much needed fun day with our family.

My mom with her first place afghan behind her. All the snowmen and snowflakes were individually crocheted and then appliqued on. All the body parts of the snowmen were individually crocheted and then stitched to the snowmen. She has planned this out for over a year and put hundreds of hours into it - so we are REALLY proud of her achievement! She always does something different in each blanket she makes, and on this one the last snowmen is melted in a puddle with the sun shining - you can kind of see it in the bottom corner. So cute!

Ella's blessing dress on display. I love this dress! The top has smocking with little sequins everywhere. I was shocked when she brought it to California last Christmas. I had asked her to make the baby a blessing dress, but I didn't expect that! My mom took 4th, but looking at the other entries, she really deserved 1st (but maybe I am biased)!

Ella was truly offended that Brody wouldn't share the popsicle. She kept trying to get whatever she could just to taste some of its cold sugary goodness!

Our family on the Texas Star overlooking the Cotton Bowl.

Two worn out Burton babies!

Brody Update

We were hoping it was over with, but he started having episodes again on Tuesday. The last few nights for us have been extremely difficult. We've been to more doctors and there best guess right now is that he is constipated. (He pooped 3 times yesterday before he started to scream throught the night - so I am not optimistic that we've found our answer) The doctor wants us to continue his treatment plan through the weekend and if he isn't better on Monday then we'll see a pediatric gastrointeroligist next week and have a barium upper GI with small bowel follow through done.

The worst part is just watching while he screams out in pain and not being able to provide any comfort. Tylenol and Motrin have done nothing to settle him and the doctor can't give him anything stronger because it would only make the constipation (if thats what it is) worse. So for now we can only rub his back and kiss his belly and try to make him comfortable that way.