School Pictures

The boys had their school pictures taken a few weeks ago and I got to pick them up this week. It was so hard to decide which poses to pick since they all came out so good! We got some handsome boys here! hehe

Andrew


Brady

AJ and Brady

"Dada" and 17.2 lbs

Well Brady has been a bit congested and runny nosed so I had Brian take him to the pediatrician yesterday. My BIG boy weighed in at a very healthy 17.2 lbs. He's not even 6 months yet. I'm afraid he's eating us out of house and home already! Oh - and we thought it was a fluke and I know it's just baby babble but he is saying "dada" a LOT now. Even AJ has noticed and has said "mommy he's saying "dada". Too cute! Brady's as well as AJ are definitely dada's boys so it's understandable. I was "dada" for AJ for the longest time! I don't think he started saying "mama" until he was almost 1.

Revenge of the Big E: The Big Eat Strikes Back

It's Sunday night, but we're finally coming out of our food-induced comas from our second visit Thursday night. After 5pm, it's only $5 to get in and what we didn't know was apparently the whole town of Westfield, MA was also there that night. It wasn't nearly as busy as last Sunday afternoon however. We met up with Ian & Tina Rodriguez and the kids. AJ and Brady got to stay with Nana Aviles. We did another quick tour of the states getting some of the usual fare - I swear my potato was much larger this time around! Our quest tonight was the deep-fried Oreos. After checking out the "Craft Commons" in search of a Christmas ornament, some of the other booths we missed last time and the petting zoo, we located our nirvana. And man were they good! Next year we have to try the deep-fried cheesecake and the meatballs on a stick (we hear those are deep fried too!). But for now, Oreos are definitely the way to go! Sadly the Big E ended earlier this evening, but we'll be back next year - with our appetites!

The Big E - aka the "Big Eat"

On Sunday we took our annual trip up to the "Big E" aka the Eastern States Exhibition in nearby West Springfield, MA. Our friend Lisa and Mom Aviles joined us on our trip. We knew it was going to be a busy day being a weekend, but we were still able to enjoy the festivities. Our tour began at "The Avenue of States" - which features replicas of each New England state capitol. Each building features unique items from each state - including FOOD which is how we started our day. The highlights: Lobster Rolls from Maine, Baked Potatoes with pulled pork from CT (yes, potatoes from CT and not Maine - trust us, they are worth it!), Cabot cheese, cider donuts and fresh cider from Vermont, Del's lemonade and clamcakes (fritters) from Rhode Island. We also sampled some maple kettle corn, cheesecake, gelatto and the famous Big E eclairs. It's a good thing we did a lot of walking around the fairgrounds as well as to and from the car!

We're debating a return trip later in the week to sample the things we missed - the giant turkey legs, deep fried veggies, deep fried Oreos, candied apples and various meats on sticks. And of course we need to see the completed version of this year's "butter cow" sculpture.

AJ's First School Field Trip

Today AJ and his classmates from the Pumpkin Patch went apple picking at Lyman Orchards in nearby Middlefield, CT. I was on vacation this week, so I was available to chaperone. AJ was very excited to pick apples and have his first ride on a big yellow bus.
It was a beautiful day - bright and sunny, mild and not too windy. Among the apple trees (McIntosh and Macoun) there was a sea of 3 and 4 year olds in their orange T-shirts all filling their bags with apples...not to mention small teeth marks on many other apples that were sampled by all the kids.
AJ filled his bag pretty quickly and he really wanted to carry it. But, it was so full every time he put it down it would fall over and the apples would start rolling away. It was a fun day for everyone. Next time we'll have to go back and experience the huge corn maze they have here!

Click HERE for more pictures.

Brady is 4.5 months old

Brady turned 4 months old on August 30th and just this past week had his 4 month check up at the pediatrician's office. He was very good making lots of noises and smiling at the nurses. They were impressed with his size.

He weighed in at 15 lbs, 10 ounces and measured a whopping 27 inches tall! He is the size of a 6 month old - at his 2 month appt. we were told he was the size of a 4 month old. He is growing proportionately so no concerns there and they're glad to see he's doing so well. He wasn't thrilled with the shots he got and was making pouty faces at them as we were leaving. We got the green light to try any baby foods with him. So far he's only had oatmeal and rice cereal and this past week we started him on prunes. He makes funny "yucky" faces but eats the prunes anyway. This coming Sunday we're going to start on squash.

A while since we've blogged....

It's been a few weeks since we blogged - we've been busy with work, school and trying to catch up on sleep. We've also been having some fun too. I started work on August 20th and my students started on the 25th. AJ also started preschool on August 25th and Brady started daycare full-time on the same day. Both boys are adjusting well.

We had Brian's ESPN work picnic on August 28th and we met up with lots of friends. AJ also met up with his friend Mickey from school and later that night we met up with Ivania and Isaiah and the boys went on tons of rides together. We all had fun playing games and AJ danced around a lot on the dance floor and did not want to leave at the end of the night.

So - here's a picture of the family. We were asked for pics for the boys classrooms so we pulled out the tripod and started posing for pics the other day :o)

Here are our boys posing for mommy. I took a bunch of pictures and once AJ got tired he goes to Brian, "dad, can you grab THIS" referring to Brady LOL my boys!

He EATS!!!!

Well per doctor's orders Brady was started on cereal 2 weeks before his 4 month appointment. We are definitely not going to have a picky eater! At 1st he was making faces but he definitely loved his cereal then went on to have almost a full bottle after that!

Daddy feeding and Brady checking out the spoonful of food

Getting a taste of it:

Enjoying his 1st taste of "food"

Brady meets Mickey

Well the boys and mommy are in FL having fun and actually doing a lot of pool and walks around Saratoga Springs but we did take a few hours today to head to Magic Kingdom so that Brady could meet the Mouse.

Brady was mesmerized with Mickey's nose. Mickey kept twitching his nose and Brady would just look and smile. He wasn't as brave as AJ was at that age when he tried to EAT Mickey's nose though. AJ was very happy to see his "pal" Mickey again and gave him a big hug!

Brady meeting Mickey:

AJ hugging his pal Mickey:

Click HERE to see more pictures from our vacation

Live from X Games 14

Greetings from Los Angeles. Millie and Brian are hard at work at X Games 14 - both operating graphics for the Skateboard Superpark, Skateboard Vert, BMX Superpark and BMX Vert events. Brian is also running around as the lead graphic operator for all of our events. We've got 2 days under our belt already and we'll be very busy on Saturday. Make sure you check your local listings for coverage. While Millie & Brian are working, AJ & Brady are enjoying their stay at Nana & Papa Bell's house. We hear there has been plenty of fun going on over there from bike riding to making banana bread. Thanks to Nana Bell for watching the kids this week! We'll have some pictures up soon....stay tuned and tune in!

Click HERE to see more pictures from our trip.

Tania's Visit

My friend Tania came to visit today with her son Marcus, her nephew Justin and her grandma. It has been a while since we have gotten together so it was very nice to visit for a bit and for Tania to meet our little Brady. Brady had her wrapped around his little finger, having her stand to hold him or he would give her the pouty lip and cry. Momma spoils him by holding him a lot so he expects everyone to accomodate his needs :o)

Marcus and Justin had fun playing while at the house, afterall toys all over the living room
is any kids dream. The boys played well together and had fun.
Once we got the boys into their swimsuits we headed over to Casey Park and picked up lunch on the way there. The boys had their lunch and soon after were running around getting wet and playing on the slide and playscape.
They had a really good time despite the heat.






Brady loved going from Grandma to Tania to Mommy - as long as he was being held he was a happy boy. We can't wait to get together again. Hopefully we can meet up in Coney Island before they're done for the season!

To see more pictures click HERE

KidCity Museum

On Thursday we got together with our wonderful friends Chris, Kelly, Matthew, Joshua and Janet & Sarah. Chris, Kelly and the boys were up visiting from Virginia for the week and it was great to see them as it has been quite a while since we all last got together.
We had a relaxing time at Janet's house. The boys and Sarah played for a bit, then we had lunch. After lunch the kids (minus AJ) all took mini naps before we headed out to the museum.
AJ was hesitant at 1st about a 'new' museum - he was adamant on going to HIS museum. Once we got there though he forgot all about his old museum and loved every minute of the new museum so much that we had a minor meltdown when we got kicked out at 5pm.

Sarah and the boys in front of the museum

AJ and Matthew in a car


AJ and Joshua making bubbles

AJ driving Kristin's car


Click HERE to see more pictures

Saturday at Ian and Susan's

The Webster's had a cookout and it was a beautiful day spent at their residence with all the kids and friends. AJ loved going in and out of all the pools and the moon walk was a big hit even with the dads LOL. Scott and Sarah were also at the picnic and Sarah had a lot of fun in the pool, the moonwalk and the playscape.

Brian, Sarah in the back and Scott and AJ in the moonwalk

and Brian playing AJ Ball hehe

AJ sliding down

AJ tractor riding, and giving Brady a tractor ride too!

Patrick drawing on the black top, Patrick's beautiful smile

Brady is 2 months old

Brady is now 2+ months old. He had his 2 month appointment on 7/11 and weighed in at a very healthy 12.6 lbs (75 percentile) and was 24 and 1/4 inches long (90th percentile). He had his shots which he wasn't too thrilled about but made it through the day just sleeping a bit more than usual.


Brady is moving around a lot more, holding his head up and making lots and lots of noises trying to talk to us. He still loves his swing and is smiling and trying to laugh a lot. He looks at us and stares and then smiles that great big smile of his. Our little boy is growing fast!

Joey's Birthday

On Saturday June 21st we headed over to my brother's house to celebrate Joey's birthday. Joey is about 2 and a half months younger than AJ and AJ loves playing with him as well as his older cousins Jordan and Danny.

It was a beautiful day out and the boys had fun running around the yard and playing on the bikes and push cars. Joey loved his construction trucks cake - dirt and all! :) great job on the cake Kim!

Click HERE to see more pictures

AJ at the Park

AJ and mommy went to Casey Park - one of our many local parks this morning. I like this park because it's never overcrowded, most people go to the much larger park down the road. Most of the parks here have the sprinkler playground and AJ is such a fan of anything to do with water.

When we left the house it was clouding over pretty fast but by the time we got to the park the sun was out in full force. AJ was running around like a madman and even with his water shoes on he had one really good wipeout and the burns to prove it on his chest and by his elbow. That did not slow him down one bit though!

Click HERE to see more pictures

Growing Up Way Too Fast

Well I had my dentist appointment for a cleaning today. I took Brady with me and he slept through most of the appointment but then got restless. Charlene one of the wonderful receptionists asked if she could take him, if I minded and I said sure. so her and Barbara took care of him in the front and they were just all gushing over him . Well at the end of the appointment Charlene asks me if he's teething and I say "no, he's only a little over a month old!" well she says - but I see two white dots on the front - so she calls Dr. Wilson over and sure enough - Dr. Wilson confirms that it's two bottom teeth coming in!!!! ugghhhh I just can't believe it - this is way too fast for me! . You can definitely see the two white DOTS right on the gum line and you can feel the one on the right.

The other milestone - Brady turned over at around 3 weeks. I thought Brian was playing tricks on me at first :o) I had Brady on his back and I leave the room and come back a few minutes to find Brady on his side. A few days later the same thing - I leave the room and come back and he's on his tummy. I asked Brian if he had turned him and he said no. Our little man is growing up way too fast!!

Brady meets great grandma

We visited the Bell's on Sunday and part of the visit included going to visit Nonnie at her home so that she could meet her new great grandson. It was a short visit so we look forward to more visits in the near future! The visit coincided with Brady's feeding time so Nonnie got to feed him with a bit of Brian's help. There are more pictures of the visit on AJ's Bike blog below.

AJ's Bike Ride

On Sunday, we went to visit Nana & Papa Bell. They had a surprise for AJ - a 2-wheel bike! After Papa made some modifications to add the training wheels (yes, they ARE pink), AJ strapped on his helmet and was raring to go. The only problem was the rough surface Nana & Papa call their driveway... it's got a few peaks and valleys. AJ learned to navigate pretty well and can't wait to ride his new bike again soon! Click HERE for pictures and a little video I made is below.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow(s)

Today was supposed to be what the weatherman termed "a wash". He couldn't have gotten the forecast any more wrong today - yes, it was cloudy for the better part of the day but it wasn't the total rainout predicted. We went out for dinner and watched the stormclouds roll in as we finished. From there we went to the local WalMart and the skies opened up. When we came out, the rain had passed and there was a cool sunset under the cloud ceiling. The best part was not a single - but a DOUBLE rainbow! I don't think I've ever seen such a brilliant rainbow - especially one you could follow end to end. And there were two of them! Very cool. We took some pictures with our cell phones - along with a lot of other people in the parking lot. And I happened to have the video camera in the car as well. Click HERE for the pictures.