So much going on lately!

Wow! Not even sure where to start. I guess with Braden...about 2 weeks ago (July 14), Braden started standing on his own. First few times, he was holding a toy and I don't think he realized he was doing it. As soon as he did, he would quickly grab on to whomever was near. However, in the past week, he has been standing for longer periods of time without getting scared. On July 22, he stood for Mom, Dad and I for at least 30 seconds before plopping to the ground. Then, on Tuesday July 25, he did it by himself. He was standing holding on to the chair and he voluntarily let go! So, yesterday, Madison and I were in the basement and I set Braden on the floor. He stood there for a second and then took 1 step toward me to reach a toy. Later the same day, we were in the bathroom and he was holding on to the potty, I moved his hand to close it and he stood there for a second before turning and taking 3, yes three steps toward the bathtub which he recently seems to like. So, he has taken his first steps! Being the scrapbooker I am, I am sad that I did not have a camera near, but plan to try to catch some on film later tonight. I am sure that this is not the end of it by a long shot! Marrisa gives him a few days to be running around the house!

Mr. Ashton - what can I say about him! He is still a bundle of energy and spunk and he is also growing up. A funny/scary thing happened at Mom and Dad's the other day. Madison found a dime and Mom let her keep it. To be fair, she also grabbed one for Ashton and Braden. Well, Ashton decided to put it in his mouth and ended up swallowing it! Well, he is that much richer!

Holy hotness!!!!

OMG...today was so hot....well, I guess technically it was yesteray since it is past midnight. Anyway, according to my car, it got to 95! Whoa!!!! It was just too hot to do anything so we spent most of the day hanging around the house until I had to pick up Risa and go look at a computer desk at 3. Took Braden to see it (like the desk...will be getting it later this week!) and decided to go to Mass on the way home since we didn't have all 3 kids. It was a great Mass since Mom and Dad held Braden until Communion. Then, went home, went to get cheap pizza...discovered I don't like Little Caesar's anymore...then took the kids to Fuzzy's. That was awesome on such a hot day! Definitely a necessity! By the time we got back, it was bedtime...got the kids to bed and have enjoyed some freedom to work in my scraproom for the second night in a row. Last night I went through all the new papers I have purchased in the past few months (2 stacks plus a bit) and sorted out some papers I know I don't want. Plus, did a bit of straightening as well as getting some stuff from Madison from preschool the past 2 years in order in drawers. Have more to do with that, but took care of most stuff that was in the room. I hope to finish the rest of her preschool stuff in the next couple of days. Tonight, I took a couple of hours and went through all the miscellaneous pictures I had in the scraproom and dated them. Still have to file them and look around the house for more, but at least it was a good start. Got a whole shoebox full of them done. Yippee!!! I am really getting motivated to organize that room so I can start doing more scrapping. I desperately want to get some shelves in there, but financially, that is going to have to wait. Oh well, there is a ton I can do in the meantime.

Well, it is really late and I have just done 2 blogs which is more than I have done ever. I need to relax, talk to Risa so she doesn't get bored and maybe work some more....also sounds like Braden is waking up for the 3rd time. Back to reality.....

One of the best days in a long time....

Friday, July 14, 2006 - This was one of the best days that I have had in a long time with the kids. I decided to sort of kick back, relax, and enjoy some time with them instead of stressing about cleaning and getting things done. Mom and I set up the pool for the kids and I loved watching them splash around in it. Later on, we were out there during Braden's nap and the kids had been playing in the pool and were done. I was sitting on the picnic table reading a magazine watching them. Well, I had to rinse off to go inside so I turned on the hose and started spraying my feet and then Madison and Ashton's too! I then went back to sit down and spent a lot of time telling Ashton not to spray by the table where Madison was running. Then I got up and moved everything so in case it did get wet, nothing would be ruined. That got me thinking...why don't I just join in the fun instead of being the "mom". So, I started to coerce Ashton into spraying me a bit by doing it myself on my legs. Then when he sprayed me, I sort of ran away screaming which made him want to spray me worse. So, of course it progressed into an all out water war! I gave the hose to Ashton and he worked his way up from spraying my feet to chasing me around the backyard spraying me every place else. I ended up totally soaked! I have not laughed that hard in so long and I truly enjoyed every minute of it. Some of the time Madison would jump in my arms to have me "save" her but most of the time was just us running around getting soaked by Ashton with the hose. I can't believe how much fun we had. It made me think that I need to do that more often and then maybe I wouldn't be so stressed so much of the time. I plan on doing that at least once a week where I just kick back and dedicate the day to doing whatever the kids want to do. It was just nice to spend the time with the older two while Braden was asleep as sometimes it feels like I don't get much quality time with them anymore as so much of my time is with Braden. I totally needed that day to connect with the kids. It was a blessing that God gave it to me to remind me what is important. Cleaning will wait, but kids grow up too fast. I want my kids to remember me playing with them, not the spotless house.