Oh Brigster.

Oh Brigs..  you sure keep mama on her toes. You are 17 months today and at such a fun, busy stage!  Here are some things I never want to forget about you at this age:

I love that you eat all the marshmallows out of the Lucky Charms & then feed the other pieces to Jaxon so you can get more.  You like to feed everything to yourself now.  It makes for a huge mess, but if it gets you to eat, I am fine with it!  You are still not a huge eater.. more of a snacker.  You have even started to eat your own yogurt & cereal with some milk in your bowl!  I have to use the Sesame Street plates & bowls with caution because as soon as you see Elmo you dump your food out with excitement!

Jaxon is always next to you when you eat.  Some times we even have to put him in his kennel during meal time because you feed him half of your food!  He has gained 5-10 pounds since we got him back in February! 

Mama tucks you every night that I am home.  The other night daddy offered to tuck you in because I was doing something else, but I just couldn't miss out.  I love cuddling you before I put you in your crib.  You are always extra snugly when you are tired and I love how precious you are when you fold your hands and smile as I say the 'Now I lay me down to sleep..' prayer.  We still give you a sippy cup with some milk in it at night.  A not-so-good habit that I plan to put an end to soon, but my thoughts on it are 'It could be a worse habit!'

You love to help yourself to the snack cupboard.  I have a 'Honey Do List' for your daddy and one of the things he needs to accomplish this week is getting a latch on that door!

It's kind of sassy.. but hilarious the first few times you did it..  Mommy counts to 3 when you are doing something you shouldn't be, and when I say 3 you get in trouble.  Well now that you are getting smarter and can say a few more words you now repeat me saying '1' and hold up your finger at me and grin! 

You throw a serious fit when you see Boston or the daycare kids coloring and I won't let you have a marker or crayon.  It's not that you are an artist in the making, you just love to eat the crayons and the tips off the markers!  Your pink, blue, green or purple mouth are a dead give away that you've been naughty!

Thanks to your older brother, you know to pick up a toy gun and say 'boom boom', or grab two super hero figures and have them fight each other!  You also love to grab the Nerf swords and swing them at people!

Linus is the perfect nickname for you.  Your blankie is your best friend, besides mom. Funny thing is, mommy's baby book says the same thing when I was your age.  Here is a photo of my baby book page for year 1.  I love that my mom took the time to write down some of these things for me to look back on.  

 

You say the world Elmo more than you say Mom or Dad and your new words this week are Cheese & Baby!  You love to watch Barney, Elmo & the Disney Channel cartoons and you are just starting to get into a few Disney movies.  Here you are lounging in your new favorite spot while you watch your favorite Elmo DVD.   

Saying 'Cheese' for mommy!

 

As busy as you are..and as frustrated as I can get at times.. I absolutely love this stage!  You have such a cute & fun personality and I love that your little brain is soaking up new things each and every day!  You remind me so much of Boston at this age!  The days will be quieter around the house now that Boston is off to Kinergarten.  It will be different for you too as you love to be around your big brother.  It will be kind of special though for you and mommy to have some time alone together.  I am so blessed to be able to be a stay-at-home mom & enjoy all these fun memories! 

 

My Kindergartener.

Dear Boston,

Today is a big day, your first day of Kindergarten! 

I remember holding you as a newborn and having people say 'Time goes so fast.  The next thing you know you'll be sending him off to Kindergarten.'  I always thought those comments were crazy.  That was 5-6 years down the road and it seemed like an eternity away.  They were so right. Time has gone fast.  Incredibly fast.  You are a kindergartener now and it seems like just a year ago you were my newborn baby.  Holding you back an extra year for Kindergarten was such a big decision for us. We went back and forth for months, wondering what to do, but in the end we just wanted what was best for you.  Deep inside though, I knew holding off a year was going to give me an extra year to have you at home with me.  Mom loved that idea!

Mom held it together this morning.  I woke up much earlier than the alarm as I was a bit anxious for your big day.  I did however get choked up last night when I was tucking you into bed.  You had taken a shower, picked out your clothes for school, helped me pack your lunch, and I was getting you all tucked in for a good night of sleep.  It all just sort of hit me that you were off to full days of school and how quiet the house would be without you.  You looked at me and said 'Mom, are you crying?'  I tried to keep it together, but the tears trickled down my cheeks.  I explained how proud I was of you, and that I was just having one of those 'mommy moments' about how fast you had grown up.  You just gave me a big hug and we said our goodnights.

This morning, mom woke you up about 7:10.  You love sleeping in, but you popped right up this morning! 

After breakfast we headed outside for pictures! 

Kindergarten 2012-2013

You are such a laid back kid.  You insisted on wearing gym shorts and a t-shirt for your first day of school outfit! Mom didn't even have to take you school clothes shopping and you were perfectly content using your backpack and lunch box from last year. 

It will be neat to see how your answers to these questions change over the years!

 You weren't quite sure what to think of all the kids and parents on the playground, and you stuck real close to dad and I.  I read you the lunch menu for the week and you decided that you wanted to bring your own lunch to school today so we packed up a turkey & cheese sandwhich, some grapes, cheese crackers and a juice box.  The juice box won't happen every day, but today was special :) 

 You said a few times that you were nervous, but once you found your friend Jude you were fine.

 And here you are standing in line, getting ready to head into the school.  I was feeling a bit sad and anxious for you, but when I saw you and Jude giggling, I knew it would be a great first day!

 Off you go.  My Kindergartener.

I found this poem the other day, and it really sums up my thoughts about now as I am sitting here at home with one little boy to take care of instead of two.

I wonder what your doing right now,

And if everyone is treating you kind.

I hope there is a special person,

A nice friend that you can find.

I wonder if the teacher knows

Just how special you are to me.

And if the brightness of your heart

is something she can see.

I wonder if you are thinking about me,

And if you need a hug.

I already miss the sound of your voice

And how you give my leg a tug.

I wonder if you could possibly understand

How hard it is for me to let you grow.

On this day know that my heart breaks,

For this is the first step in letting my baby go.

Mom sure hopes your enjoying your first day of Kindergarten.  I can't wait to pick you up and hear all about it! 

Love you to the moon & back.

Mom 

Good ole Looney Days!

This past Saturday the whole family headed to Colman for their annual Looney Day festivities!  This is the biggest day of the year in Colman, and we rarely miss it!  This year, the Brendsel cousins put together a co-ed softball team for the Looney Day Tourney.  We lost our first two games, so didn't get a whole lot of playin in, but it was still fun to get everyone together.  My grandparents loved watching and cheering us on!

The morning started out with a parade at 10 o'clock, ball games at 11 & 1, kids inflatables & carnival games and then free grilled food on main street courtesy of the new Rescue Church in town! 

Boston got enough candy to feed us all.  Brigham only cared about the suckers!

 Brigs was a little pistol all day.  On. the. go. constantly & very clingy to his mama. 

 Suckers sure made him happy though!

 Paisley & B

 Brigs was all about finishing up his hotdog that he dropped on the sidewalk!

 The Brendsel Bunch ball team!  We may not have been the best ball team of the day, but we sure were the best looking ball team!!  Brigs made the picture (he's hidden) because he screamed when I would try and put him down!

 My grandpa just loved sitting on the bench 'coaching' us!

 Keisha, Lacey & Katie

 We pulled the vehicle up close to the ball diamond so that we could put a movie on for Brigs.  He was desperately in need of a nap.  He looks so sweet here.. but this only lasted 10 minutes.  Poor dude ended up with 2 molars a few days later, so I forgive him for being a pain in the rear.

 My hubby.  He always makes a smart ass comment before we head to Colman events..'Do you think people in Colman talk about how Jamie Johnson's husband sure is good lookin?!' 

Yes honey.  I'm sure they do.  :)

Front Door Craft!

I haven't done anything crafty since we moved, and I was missing it!  I have all of these wild ideas saved on my Pinterest boards, but no time these days to get at them.  One of the crafts on the top of my to-do list was to make a front door hanging with the letter G.  Ya know, for Gerdes. :)

I found several different versions on Pinterest, but my favorite was this one.  I loved that it was simple.  My plan was to find a font I liked for my letter G, draw it out on a piece of plywood and have my dad cut it out for me.  I just couldn't find a font I liked, and saw a letter G at Hobby Lobby on Monday that I thought was perfect for this craft, and only $4!

The letter I bought was black, so I bought some paint ($1) and some burlap on a roll ($5).  I roughed up the paint with some sand paper so that it looked worn, and then made up some fabric flowers to glue on.  The same fabric flowers I made for the hair clips, so I already had the fabric!  I was pretty impressed with how it turned out..

I sent a picture of the finished product to Derek & my friend Tracy..they both replied that it was ugly!  Ugh, talk about a disappointment!  So after some feedback, I decided maybe it was a bit too small for the door and took it down.  Then I saw this idea and remembered I had a few wreaths in the basement, so I took one of them apart and did some more crafting.  This is the new finished product! 

It's staying on the door this time!