Wow. It's amazing how much life can change in only a few months.
We have purchased our first home and are mostly settled in. It's a charming little house--not too old or too new and 'modernish'. The yard is big and secure. It's close to Brock's office and the schools are excellent. The neighbors are nice and the neighborhood is safe. This house isn't huge, but there's room to grow.
Which is good because we're expecting a new little one in July. And this time (just to shake things up) we're having a GIRL! Whoa! I was not expecting
that one! Guess we'll be investing in a lot of pink. ;)
Of course, just to complicate things, my younger brother is getting married in St. Louis a few weeks after our daughter is due to arrive. Whew!
Meanwhile, the boys are growing every day and getting more and more fun every minute they live.
Brady, now almost fully potty-trained and enjoying preschool, is a chatterbox and an energizer bunny to boot. He's friendly and sweet without a shy bone in his wiry little body. He's polite and careful not hurt anyone (by word or fist), though he's plenty stubborn and not afraid to defend himself, if necessary. And with Tommy around, believe me, it's necessary.
Some of my favorite Brady-isms:
"Wow, Daddy, this is a
spicy road!"
"Hey, I'm not a baby--I'm a big boy. No, I'm not a big boy--I'm a Brady!"
"Oh, Mama. We have to write our letters to Santa before we
die...or before Santa dies."
"Daddy, no more games. It's time for me to go to bed."
"I went potty. Are you proud of me, Mama?"
"Don't put my toys away, Mama. I said no! You understand me?" (said in his very best imitation of me)
"Oh no! I can't go to bed. The Ghostes will whine at me!"
Tommy is our comedian and tease. He has a passion for physical comfort, in the form of warm clothes, soft blankets, food, and cuddles, but he also gets a big kick out of taunting his brother, startling people, and chuckling at his own (unintelligible) jokes. He can be shy, but is mostly friendly and gradually being cured of biting, head-butting, and face-grabbing. In spite of this, the nursery workers in our ward have officially voted him the cutest baby in the ward. To my great delight, he is willing to attempt any word and is collecting quite the vocabulary.
Some of his favorite words and/or phrases:
"No, no--not that."
"Yeah, yeah--that."
"I go!"
"Mama, Daddy. Mama, Daddy." (repeated countless times)
"Ah-mennnnnn" (at the end of every prayer)
"Wocky!" (defined as juice)
"Ban-ket" (any crocheted blanket he can get his hands on)
"Weeee" (his word for the slide at the park)
"A-wock" (translation: "I want")
And, my personal favorite, "Noooooooooooooo!" (howled in a dramatic, desperate voice whenever his will is thwarted.)
As for the darling princess in my tummy, the only thing we know about her at this point is that she is an active little thing and seems to have her days and nights straight so far. According to her recent ultrasound, she's healthy and growing well. We can't wait to meet her (Well, Brock, Brady, and I feel that way. Tommy seems to have mixed up the words 'baby' and 'belly'. While he's perfectly willing to mimic Brady and 'give the baby kisses', he obviously has no idea what's coming or how it will affect his charmed little life.)
So, here we are--a new year, a new home, and a whole new life!
Here we have three generations of women in the Thomas family at Audrey's Baby Blessing.
And here are four generations in the Bradshaw family. Grandma Ruth, her oldest daughter (Mom), Mom's oldest daughter (me), and my oldest daughter (Audrey).
Brock spends every available minute (and he doesn't have many) in the yard and it looks amazing! He trimmed the wild hedges, planted a beautiful garden, dug out almost all the weeds, and his next project is to build the play structure we bought last week. And with all he does, he still finds time to play with and read with our boys. He's a wonder!
I'm doing what I can to keep the house in order, but it's not much at the moment. I'm under orders to keep off my feet as much as I can so this little girl doesn't make too early an appearance. I fill the hours with writing and playing solitaire. Don't worry, Brock and my mom are covering for me. Hmmm. So much for an update on what I'm up to--it's not much.
Brady is done with preschool until the fall, when he begins his pre-K class. He calls it his "four-year-old school" and is very excited to get started. He has a wild imagination and tons of energy (like most 4-yr-olds, I expect). He sings all day (some songs are recognizable, but most are his own creations), plays nicely with Tommy (most of the time), and runs outside until, as he puts it, "my breath is tired out." He is very excited about his little sister and can't wait for her to come out so he can hold her and play with her "cute little toes".
Tommy is not so enthusiastic about the baby, but he is willing to gaze at the belly and say "so cute" when Brady tells him to. He chatters constantly, but is only rarely understood. Still, his vocabulary is large and if he repeats himself often enough, we can figure out what he wants eventually. He trots around after Brady, cheerfully copying everything his brother says and does, and with a little bit of a swagger to his step--you'd think he owned the place! He is our little tease and more than a little bossy--driving Brady crazy every chance he gets.
Brock is insanely busy at work, but we can't complain--job security. Anyway, he still manages to get home in time to help put the boys to bed (9 pm in the summer months). He loves to plan fun weekend activities for the family (like a day at Happy Hollow or visits to Hidden Villa Farm) and golfs whenever he can squeeze it in. He is also kept busy house-hunting with our new agent. We would love to find a place in the next six months or so.
Brady can keep his "big boy underwares" dry for up to 20 minutes in exchange for junior mints and he gives me fair warning when he needs to use the potty. Just a few more weeks and he'll be in those underwares all day long! He'll start preschool in the fall (and maybe soccer too), so I'm hoping he can manage this before then. His closest friends now-days are Laney Parker, Nylah Agrella, Ryan Kazmucha, and Olivia Zumstein.
Tommy is a terrible lap-hog and even gets jealous if I hug Brock too long. His favorite thing is story time. He will carefully choose a book (usually a touch and feel), hand it to you, and back up into your lap--ready for my story! This is very cute, but we're waiting for his attention-span to last for more than ten seconds at a time.
As for me, I just handed my latest manuscript over to Stan and hopefully we'll hear from a publisher or two by the end of the summer. With all my new free time I intend to make a few blankets for the boys, try to keep this apartment in order, help Brock find us a house, stick to Brady's potty training, and even do a little fun writing on the side (an outline for book 2 and research for my next series). Coming up soon, we have swimming lessons (mid June) and a trip to Utah (late July or early August).