Brigs-11 Months!

Brigham is 11 months old today!   Birthday's are a BIG deal around here, so we have started an offical countdown to his 1st Birthday!  29 Days to go :)  It's going to be a FUN party! 

Here are some things I want to remember about this stage!

• Walking everywhere!  He is almost able to get himself to a standing position without having to pull up on something. 
• Bedtime is 7-7:30 PM and he is up about 7-7:30 AM.  Fabulous!
• Just started to put his toy telephone to his ear, and then we say 'Hello Daddy!'

• He loves to climb underneath the bar stools but has a really hard time getting out :)

• Learning to wave 'bye bye' and saying mama, dada, and ba-ba (bottle) or bubba (Boston), we can't decide what it is yet!
• We are slowly introducing him to whole milk. 
• He still loves taking a bath but doesn't like his daddy to get his pj's on:)  He also loves climbing up the steps!

• He is into everything! We have just about every door in the house shut because if it's left open, he goes in and digs!  His favorite place to play is his bedroom, and for being such a little guy, he sure makes a mess in a matter of seconds!





• He seems to eat better if we let him feed himself. 
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• He is such a happy little guy! 
  
  

•  He likes to play Peek-a-bo and 'Where's Brigham?'  His idea of hiding is turning his head.  He also turns his head like this when he knows he's in trouble! 

Winter Blues.

A friend of mine is always saying 'Jamie, you're so domesticated these days!',  'I think you're Super Woman!' or 'Quit being so domesticated because your making me look bad!' 

For the record, I am none of those things.  I think I have you people fooled!  I'm not sure what word I would use to describe my newest interests in cooking, thrifting, crafting, and blogging, but I do know that I have a ton of fun with it! 

These past few weeks I have been bored.  Bored with my schedule, bored with our house, with my wardrobe, my hair, ect.  Diagnosis: Winter Blues.  It also didn't help having to say goodbye to Jaxon, or the fact that I am PMS-ing.  A horrible combination for a woman.  So what do I do when I am bored?  I change things up.  I rearrange furniture, swap our decor around, clean rooms from top to bottom, throw out crap we haven't used in a year, craft, read, and do in-expensive projects to spice things up around here!

A few weeks ago I was hating my pantry.  I felt like every time I opened the door something fell in my face, or food was no where to be found because it was all crammed into a heap on a shelf.  I looked up in the closet and had an 'Ah-Ha!' moment.  Above the top shelf was about 2 foot of empty space.  Solution:  Add more shelving to store the things you rarely use!   I also hung a hook to hang my broom on.

The wasted space..

 Extra space!  And yes, I have a Twilight calendar hanging in my pantry :)

I don't have a before picture of the laundry closet.. but imagine the tops of the washer & dryer being covered in junk and the entire hall way taken over by clean & dirty clothes and piles of folded laundry.  The extra shelfing took care of the junk and now I have room to fold clothes IN the closet! 

Remember this craft?  Well, the menu board hadn't been written on in weeks and it was taking up counter space so I moved it to a new spot.  Menu Board = Prayer Board for the dining room table! 

I also attempted my first batch of home made dish washing soap yesterday!  This friend that thought I was too domesticated weeks ago is really going to love this. 

Wait till she hears I'm attempting a garden this spring!  :)   

 I like organization.. and personalization!  When you don't have a cricket.. you use a paint pen! 

2 Cups of Borax

2 Cups of Washing Soda

2 Cups of Lemi Shine (because we have hard water)

1 Cup of Kosher Salt

White Vinegar as a rinse aid.

1 Tbsp per load.

I found all of the ingrediants at Walmart.  The Borax, Washing Soda & Lemi Shine are all near the laundry & dish soaps.  I did the math.  It comes out to 5 cents per load!

*Added 2/26/12:  After a week of my mixture sitting in a container, it was ROCK HARD!  I had to chisel out the mixture from the container.  The website that I found the recipe on (link is above) suggested you leave the mixture in a bowl for several days to continue stirring so this 'hardening' does not happen.  This is a crucial step that I did not follow!  I learned my lesson the hard way :)

And for those wondering about Jaxon, I thought I would include a short update.  At the last minute on Sunday morning, I decided to ride along to Mankato to bring him away, so all 5 of us made the trip.  Jaxon snuggled me in the front seat the whole way there, and as soon as I saw the Perkins sign, the tears started to flow.  It was SO HARD to hand him over, but I felt so much better after meeting the ladies from the rescue center.  They were so sweet.  They asked a lot of questions about his health, and seemed very well educated on his issues.  I have such high hopes that they will get to the bottom of it and have him healthy again.  I had a really hard time with it, but Boston did very well until they drove away with our doggy, and then he lost it.  I received an email today that he is doing well, and that he is getting held a lot :)  This is something we never had the time for, so I am positive that Jaxon is enjoying himself!  He was seeing a vet this afternoon already, and they promised another update after his appointment.  When we got home from school today, Boston went to our bedroom, out of habit, to let Jaxon out of his kennel.  He came out to the living room sobbing.  He said 'Mama, it's just not the same without Jaxon here.'  I knew right away what he had done, as I have done the same sort of things these past few days.  It's quietier around the house, and I miss his little claws tapping on the kitchen floor, but I know each day it'll get easier.  Thanks for all the kind messages and texts wondering how we are doing without our four-legged friend.

       

 

 

 



    

Farewell Jaxon. Farewell.

It was spring of 2003.  I was single and living with my sister in Colman.  At that point in my life I didn't think many of my decisions through, and for some crazy ass reason, I woke up that day determined  I was buying a dog.  This little furry black & white fluff ball caught my eye at Mini Critters.  I was broke as hell, but still thought spending $350 on a dog, and another hundred or so on supplies was a wise idea.  Obviously not the smartest thing I have ever done, but I'm so glad I did it now.   

Jaxon went everywhere with me.  He was my baby long before I had real babies.

We took Christmas pictures together..

 And I dressed him up.  He hated it.

Jaxon and I were a family....until this guy came along.  Jaxon has never been real fond of Derek, but it's ok, Derek has never really liked Jaxon either.  You'd never know that from the pictures though.  I'm pretty sure Derek pretended to love my dog for brownie points. 

 And then in the fall of 2005, we found out we were having a baby. Jaxon sensed there was going to be some changes. He snuggled my baby belly all the time.  Almost like he knew the little human growing inside of me was going to take over being #1 in my world.

When Boston was born and we were in the hospital for 3 days, I was so worried about Jaxon being home alone that I sent Derek home every night to stay with him.  Jaxon loved to sleep under Boston's crib.  He was very protective of him, and would growl if anyone would come in his room.  

One of Boston's first words was Jax. 

And then in 2011, this little fella came along.  Jaxon didn't really notice there was another baby in the house.  He had already been through it once, so to him, it really didn't seem like a big deal.  As soon as Brigs realized there was a furry 4 legged creature running around our house, they were friends.  Brigs even figured out how to let him out of his kennel.   

 

The boys will miss playing in his dog kennel and dumping the food and water dishes all over. 

I will miss him cleaning up all of the crumbs from my kitchen floor.

Derek always said Jaxon wasn't a very smart dog, but I disagree.  He knew Derek didn't like him.. so he chose to nap right on his pillow when he wasn't home.

Jaxon has been a part of my life for almost 9 years.  He tagged along on family vacations, cuddled with us when we were sick or having sleepovers, was a part of Christmas card pictures, loved being outside with us in the summer and was a trooper when I would dress him up for Halloween. 

Even though he was a money pit and a huge pain in my ass some days, I am gonna miss him like crazy, and so will my boys.    

 

These last few days have been so hard, and a lot of tears have been shed.  Life around the house will be different without our dog, but I truly feel like Jaxon deserves this, no matter how shitty it makes me feel.  So instead of saying 'Goodbye Jaxon.', I say 'Farewell'.

 

   

Farewell; Goodbye, may you fare well.  An expression of good wishes at parting. 

Valentines Day

Tuesday morning I wanted to attend Boston's Valentine Party at preschool, so I had made arragements with Derek to take an hour or so off of work so that he could watch Brigham.  The plan was to drop Brigs off at Billion at 9:45, and then Derek was going to take him home.  I got to Billion on time, but Derek was with a customer.  So we sat.. and waited..  Finally, at 10 o'clock, we made a quick swap in the parking lot.  Derek was far from thrilled as he was busy, and I was totally irritated I was late for Boston's party.  This is typical with car sales, so I should have known better.  Anyway, I have been tied down with babysitting quite a bit this school year, so I have missed quite a few of Boston's parties and field trips.  He came and gave me a big hug when I walked into his classroom.  He's so good to me!  He had even told his teacher that he had a lunch date with his mom!  When the teacher told me that, a few of the kids over heard and then all the kids were saying 'Boston has a date with Brayden! Britton has a date with Sohie!  Mya has a date with Kennedy!'  They thought it was hilarious to say 'date'.  :)

Anyway, when school was out at 11, Brigham was still at Billion. We stopped by to pick him up and he was with the receptionist. I think he got passed around to a few of the office ladies too. Thank goodness he is not a shy baby! The girls said he just smiled the whole time. Choas yes, but I was so glad I could be a part of Boston's preschool party.  Derek was finished up with his customer by this time, so he was able to join the boys and I for lunch. We went to Phillips Ave. Diner.  It's one of our favorite lunch spots with Derek! 

My good looking Valentines!

 Brigs was super tired.  He slept right through lunch!  It was very peaceful :) 

After lunch, we dropped Derek off at work and then headed to our 'surprise fun place'!  I told Boston that I had a special afternoon planned, but I wouldn't tell him where we were going!

I had him pull his hat over his eyes when we got a few blocks from our destination.. 

 The surprise was the Dino-Roar exhibit at the Zoo!  It worked out perfect because our zoo membership was expiring in 4 days, and with the membership we only had to pay $3/person! 

 At first Boston was scared of them!  I kept telling him to 'toughen up' and that they weren't real! 

Brigham wasn't sure what to think of the dinosaurs either!

I'm afraid playing around inside the museum was the most fun for them! 

 Brigs is now starting to run.. I am one BUSY mama chasing him!

After our trip to the zoo, we stopped by church to deliver Grandma Glady her Valentine card.  Boston made it all himself.  It says:  'Grandma, I am happy you are getting married!'  That's right, Grandma Glady and Les are tying the knot!  June 1st is the big day, and we are very happy for them!  Boston was a little sad when Glady told him the news on Monday night.  In his mind it meant she was replacing his Papa.  He was full of tears and said 'But Papa is my Grandpa, not Les'.  It was heartbreaking, but after Derek and I talked with him, he got over it and now thinks it's pretty cool his Grandma won't be alone.  Les is VERY good with the kids, and Boston enjoys having him around.  Boston is very concerned about what to 'call' Les.  Derek said 'How about you call him Lester for now, and then if you want to call him Grandpa some day that's fine too.'  :)  

And after delivering Grandma her Valentine, we made a stop at Burger King for some ice cream and  to give Shana (it was for Ja too!) her Valentine card!  It was a fun day!  I love spending time with my boys, so it was a perfect Valentines Day! 

 Derek surprised me with flowers when he got home from work.  To: Our Girl, From: Your Boys. 

I am one very luck lady!