18 Month Pictures and Stats

Our boy is getting so big! As of his 18 month check-up he weighs 23lbs. 13 oz. and is 34.06 inches tall! I can't believe that he has grown 3 inches since he was 1! We recently headed in for pictures again. I was thrilled to get several great ones. It is definitely getting more challenging now that all he wants to do is run and play. We were proud of him for doing such a great job!

We had to take pictures with his balls this time because that is his toy of choice lately. This first one cracks me up!

Baby's First Photos

Today was ultrasound day! We were so excited to go and see our baby! The great news is that everything is excellent and baby is growing perfectly. I've posted a couple of photos from our appointment.

Baby's face - looking at you (top)

Baby's profile (#2)

Baby's foot (#3)

And yes, we did find out. It's a BOY! There is no mistaking it. Yea! We have everything we need and can use it all again. A huge plus. Now, we have to start discussing names. This is such a challenge for me! Andy is so excited...another boy to play baseball!

For Ellen...

Last week I posted a picture of Brady doing his paint with water. Our good friend Ellen got a kick out of this and told us that he was really reading the newspaper and I just plopped the wet picture in front of him for a photo. Ha, ha. Not kidding, we did not pose this picture. The very next day, Brady climbed up on the chair, took the paper off the table, sat down with it and proceeded to "read" it to himself. We just had to laugh. So Ellen, this one is for you!

Random Candids

What a proud daddy Brady has! Andy was very excited to see Brady playing with his baseball glove this past weekend. Though he is not too skilled with it yet, he is playing with it all the time.

Sitting in the "big boy chairs" in the kitchen is one of Brady's favorite new spots. He is of course climbing everywhere, so getting up and down on his own is not a problem anymore.

This weekend was a busy one for us on Saturday. Brady had his 18 month pictures taken (those are to come!) and then we ran a bunch of errands. After making his way through his first Sam's Club grazing, Brady came home and literally crashed.

Tickling Brady is one of my favorite things to do. I have had conferences this week, so I have not gotten to see him much in the evenings. Monday night when I got home he just wanted me to hold him. I got to tickling him and when I would quit he would say, "More, more!" I just loved this picture.

Snow Day!

Today I have a snow day! Well, no snow, but school was closed because it is beyond freezing cold outside. This morning when I got my phone call (5:15), it was -22 for temp and -40 with the wind! Though I hate the cold, I am loving being home with Brady today. We have done lots of fun things this morning. We made soup and bread for lunch. Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa Schwartzhoff joined us. We have also colored, played catch, read books, done a bit of cleaning up, and Brady's favorite, painted. For Christmas Brady got several paint with water books. He thought this was great fun today!

This is why we paint with water. Brady is still learning that we do not eat the paint brush!

My helper...cleaning the floors with the Swiffer is one of his favorite jobs.

Adventures in eating

Messes are not my thing and Brady is doing a great job of testing out my patience lately. We are working hard to have Brady feed himself with a spoon and this is a very messy process. Last night I fixed spaghetti. This was the only moment I smiled - when he had a face full. The rest of the meal was spent flinging noodles with the spoon. Dinner had to be taken away more than once and mommy was not too happy by the end of the meal. Ah, adventures in eating...

Little Drummer Boy

Forget the "real" toys. Brady's recent favorite at home has been the empty laundry basket and a couple of spoons. This makes the perfect drum for him and he is content to play with it for a good long while once he has it all set up. He drags the basket around the house and announces for all the hear, "Drum! Drum!" This of course is followed by him playing a tune.

Taking a little break from playing.

Painting Phun

Over the week of New Year's, Andy got it in his head that this was the week to paint our great room. He tends to have these ideas when I am pregnant and can't really help all that much. Anyway, it was a HUGE job to undertake. Charles and Matt came to help, bless their hearts. It was a full two day project for the boys with the actual painting, a full two days of prep for Becca and Andy, and then many days to get it all put back together again. Throw the flu in there for Becca and you have one super fun week!

Charles got the honors of doing the super high trim work!

Matt was a huge help on two very long days. And yes, he was still smiling by the end of it!

I had a hard time dealing with the chaos of this mess, no kitchen, and feeling like junk. A mess this big is just no good for a person as organized as I am!

Andy runs into a little trouble with the red paint!

Though pictures simply cannot do it justice, here are a few photos of the final product. We love it and the think it looks better than ever. Praise God, the white is gone!

No fun

Here we were, December 28, all cuddled up with our blankets. Little did we know it was the calm before the storm. Flu storm that is. Yep, Brady got the flu right after Christmas. It was no fun at all and then, he even shared with mommy!

I felt so bad...Brady wanted to play so badly. In the middle of a game of catch with daddy, he just plopped down on the kitchen floor for a rest. Oh, pumpkin.