The Bream Family Journal

A Very Special Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 19:52:00 +0000

Kaylah turned 3 this week. We wanted her to know how very loved she is, and we did some simple things to help make her day special. (Sorry about the watermarks on the pictures. I put these up on my other blog too, and I don't want any weirdos using pictures of my babies.)

We put streamers on her door before she got up.

We woke her up by standing outside her door and singing Happy Birthday.

It took a while for her to wake up and understand what was going on.

We hid her presents all over the house.

Later that afternoon we had a joint birthday party for both of the kids at their grandparents house. J.D.'s birthday is next week, so we will give him his own special day then.

She is so excited to be 3! She's mostly looking forward to being able to participate in children's choir at church!

We love you, little ladybug, and we pray that you will learn to love the Lord with all your heart and serve him with your life!

Ethan the Frugalite

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:02:00 +0000

I suppose I have done a good job teaching Ethan not to be wasteful of his food. I went out of the room for a minute and came back to find that he was cleaning everybody's plates!

Mommy Let Me Get All Dirty!

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 04:48:00 +0000

Mommy let me join in the picnic with the big kids today!

I usually have to sit in the stroller. What fun is that?!

I got just the tiniest bit of food on me - nothing much at all. ;)

Every big boy has to have his milk with his lunch. I dribbled just the tiniest bit of that on me too.

Hey, mom! What's this?

Wait! What's THAT?!

I've really gotta go check this out.

I'm still not sure about this thing.

Can I touch it?

Ooohhh! That's how you do it! Let me take a quick break here before I try.

Cool! Maybe I'll just wash this smushed banana off my shorts.

This getting dirty stuff is pretty fun, Mom.

Yay for my big-boy, standing-up, messy self!

What a great day!

New Discoveries

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 21:11:00 +0000

There were a couple new discoveries at our house this week.

Ethan discovered how to drink from a cup all by himself, and he has been staying well hydrated. :)

Kaylah and J.D. discovered that the blackberries in the backyard are ripe! They spent quite a while out there picking and eating today. Kaylah fed them to her baby doll. :)

Growing Up

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:17:00 +0000

Just some more reminders that these little ones are growing up so fast!

Ethan started pulling himself last week. Now it's a regular occurrence. He's even a naughty little stinker, standing up in his crib and jabbering to J.D. when they're supposed to be taking their naps!

J.D. is quite the big helper, always making sure Ethan doesn't put things in his mouth. He took the initiative to give Ethan a ball to play with and give him a stroller ride last night.

I just couldn't resist putting this picture up. I love his smile!

And look at my big girl. Today was the first day she got the courage to swing on our swingset! She would do it on the swings that have the flexible seats that you kind of sink down into, but she never felt secure enough to do it on ours. She laughed the whole time!

I love watching them play together! Oh, I could just squeeze them!

Remember This?

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:22:00 +0000

Remember this picture of J.D. eating the sour cream?

Ethan got a little earlier start. I thought I had set it far enough away from him, but I guess not. That boy will reach so far for things that his Bumbo will tip over on its side. I call him elastic boy.

What is This?

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 12:55:00 +0000

We were playing outside when J.D. spotted this rock. "Wow! A white rock!!!" he said excitedly. After a pause he added seriously, "Or it could be a frozen marshmallow."

What a nut!

Apparently...

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:51:00 +0000

Apparently I didn't read my last note to self.

Only this time it was brown sugar instead of peanut butter. If anybody sees an extremely hyper 2 year old girl running around, don't worry. She'll settle down as soon as all the sugar is out of her system.

Little Stinker

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:03:00 +0000

Note to self:

Next time you're baking something, do not leave the room, even for 1 minute.

A Date with Mommy

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:02:00 +0000

I am blessed to have the opportunity sometimes to go shopping and get paid for it! Yesterday I had to do a shop at Bi-Lo in Gaffney, and I decided to take J.D. with me on our first date! We went shopping for prizes to bring home to everyone and went out for pizza before we headed to Bi-Lo.

While I know it is important to spend one-on-one time with each of the kids, and I try to do so at home, I have never taken any of them on an actual date. It is just not always the most convenient or cost-efficient thing to do. However, after yesterday I realized that it could be a very good thing for J.D. who seems to be ultra high-need when it comes to needing attention.

He was visibly excited the whole time we were out and told me several times that he loved going on a date. I realized what a great environment it provided to actually go out somewhere. At home there are always distractions of some sort or J.D. ends up getting in trouble (as is his normal custom!) Going out seemed to enable both of us just to be able to concentrate on enjoying each other's company.

We'll definitely have to try it again!

Thanks to Grandma Lockhart for watching the other two kids!

The 200 Club

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 22:04:00 +0000

J.D. came home with his first award from King's Kids the other night. He made it into "The 200 Club". I'm not sure exactly what it is - all I know is that he's been saying his verses every week, and managed to rack up 200 points.

Here's my little cutie:

Kaylah saw me taking his picture and said, "Could you take a picture of me with my cup?" Sure thing, sweetie pie!

And since I couldn't show any favoritism, I had to take a picture of Ethan too. :) He was already in bed, but not asleep. Doesn't that great big smile just kill you?

Just a typical Wednesday night at the Bream house!

Kaylah Singing

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:24:00 +0000

I caught this video of Kaylah "practicing her song" as she put it. Thought you might enjoy it:

School Fun

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 20:23:00 +0000

J.D. surprised me a little bit today during school. We do a lot of math activities with these little bears, and we also use the dry erase boards that the kids got for Christmas from Grandma Bream. On a whim, I told J.D. that I was going to set out a certain number of bears, and that he needed to count them and write the correct answer on the board. Honestly, I was just curious to see what he would do. I had NO IDEA he actually knew how to write his numbers!!! He wrote the correct answer every time!

So I went a step further and told him that I was going to set out an addition problem for him. Here's his answer:

I got all excited and grabbed the camera, but then he got embarrassed and didn't want to show his face.

Kaylah usually does exactly what J.D. does for school. It keeps her occupied, and she's picking up bits and pieces along the way too. She didn't want to be left out of the math problem pictures:

Isn't she smart? :)

Ethan Eats Applesauce

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:14:00 +0000

As of yesterday, I hadn't yet started Ethan on solid foods. When I made some applesauce yesterday, he was looking at J.D. and Kaylah like he was jealous, so I figured I would go ahead and let him try some.

J.D. was so excited about feeding Ethan applesauce that he kept trying to feed him from his own spoon.
He absolutely loved it! I have never seen a baby more ready to eat solid food. He didn't gag on the spoon or act like he didn't know what to do with the stuff in his mouth. He kept grabbing the spoon and trying to pull it into his mouth. Then he would hold it in there and try to lick off every last bit of the applesauce.

.

Here he is patiently waiting for more. He's six months old today; can you believe it?

Priceless Memories

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:54:00 +0000

I am so thankful that all 3 of the kids love music. They have really been doing well lately with being able to sing a song pretty much all the way through and singing the correct words. The other night I was trying to practice, but I didn't mind a bit when they interrupted me and wanted to play and sing. Even Ethan was not satisfied until he could get up there and play the piano with me. These are wonderful times that I will remember for the rest of my life!

(On a side note, why is it that all of those "Hurry, grab the camera!" moments always happen when I look like I got run over by a truck? It would be nice to look halfway decent in some of those priceless recordings.) :)

Siblings

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:03:00 +0000

J.D. and Ethan matched on Sunday, so of course we had to take a picture. Can you believe how big Ethan is getting?

Kaylah didn't want to be left out,but she was only giving me cheesy smiles.

After a few snaps of Kaylah, J.D. was feeling left out again, so he joined his sister.

Then they decided it was time to be goofy.

Kaylah wanted to hold Ethan, so we got a quick snap of that and then abandoned ship.

Our good camera is in the shop right now, which is too bad. I think we would have gotten some cute pictures if we would have had it. Love my kiddos!

Kaylah's "Fancy Hair"

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:01:00 +0000

My mom likes to tell the story about when I was little and she curled my hair for church on Sunday. One of the boys in my class said that I had "fancy hair." Now that I'm mommy to a little girl, I decided it's time to subject her to some of the ~~torture~~ Saturday night hair curling rituals that I got to ~~endure~~ enjoy.

All rolled up on rag rollers

The result: fancy hair!

Kaylah's attempt at making some kind of vain face. I hope she never learns how to do it right!

Why Mommy Gets Grouchy in the Middle of the Night

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:59:00 +0000

"Mommy, I wet the bed."

Grumble, grumble, grumble. Mommy thinks to herself, (sarcastically), "No problem. I'll just throw all the wet clothes and sheets in the wash along with the dirty towels that I used to clean the bathroom floor when the toilet overflowed. While I'm at it I'll throw in Kaylah's wet pants and panties that she wet after I had done all the laundry. Then I'll get so awake giving you a bath and changing your sheets that I won't be able to go back to sleep and I will be sooo tired in the morning."

Why do I act like I'm dying? I just need to be thankful!

Thankful that I have a little boy to come wake me up in the night.
Thankful that I have clean sheets to put on his bed.
Thankful that we have a bathtub to give him a bath.
Thankful that we have a toilet to overflow.
Thankful that I have a little girl and that she is learning to go on the potty.
Thankful that I have a washing machine to put all the dirty things into.
Thankful that I have a bed to get back into (and that I have a wonderful husband who is keeping the sheets warm.)
Thankful that all 3 kids normally sleep very well through the night.
And on and on and on I could go.

Thank you Lord for reminding me to be thankful! I have absolutely no right to be grumbling about something so trifling.

Thank you Lord for your blessings!

All About Ethan

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:32:00 +0000

Ethan turned 5 months old yesterday, and as promised, here is a post all about him.

As I have said several times before, he is just so sweet and so good. This picture was taken at our Lockhart family Christmas party. He went to sleep without so much as a peep. It sure makes life easy when we have to go somewhere to have him just sleep when it's time to sleep and wake up happy.

Fresh out of the bath

Having fun playing outside.

Although he is quiet and sweet, he is very active. He's working on learning to roll over, and whenever he's in his rocker seat (the one in the previous picture) he kicks his feet up and down to make himself rock. When we're holding him he rocks back and forth like he's in a rocking chair. He's usually pretty serious, but his brother and sister can get him to laugh.

I hope you enjoyed seeing a little more of Ethan. I'm sure as he gets older and starts running around it will be easier to include him in the pictures. Right now he just spends most of his time sitting quietly in his chair while I chase the two (crazy!) older ones.

A Full Day

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 22:42:00 +0000

We had a very full day yesterday!

We started out by doing our own family's Christmas tree time. We didn't do it on Sunday, apparently because we're "Scrooges", but really just because we thought we'd enjoy it more if we didn't have to rush to do it before church on Sunday.

Kaylah got a robe, and she said, "It's a robot!"

After our Christmas tree time, we headed out for some after Christmas shopping. Kaylah gave us a concert wherever we went. She would not have done this if she had known I was videoing, but this is what most of our car rides sound like wherever we go. I apologize for the bumpy video. You'll also want to turn your speakers all the way up as well as the volume on the video itself.

After a long day of shopping, we headed to McAdenville to drive through the last night of their lights.

The kids were worn out after a long day.

And I feel like a terrible mother! I just noticed I didn't take one picture of Ethan all day! He is just the sweetest little boy. He never cries or tries to get attention for himself. Sometimes I guess that's not such a good thing because I forget about him. :(

I will do a whole post just about him next time; how's that?

Merry Christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:06:00 +0000

Christmas Fun Resumes and Blessings from the Woods

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 22:11:00 +0000

I don't have pictures of everything that we've done, but some of the things we have done are painting our ornaments, singing Christmas carols together, shopping, wrapping presents together and having our Lockhart family Christmas party.

Also, God had blessed us with 2 deer this year. As I type, David is back in the woods looking for another one. He only has tonight and tomorrow to hunt before the season ends, but we are very thankful that he already got two!

Christmas Fun: Day ???

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:26:00 +0000

I have lost all sense of time, and our Christmas activities have come to an abrupt halt. Mommy has been sick for nearly 2 weeks and trying my hardest to care for 3 healthy, active children. Then Daddy got sick and we've both been trying to muster up enough strength to just tend to the basics. Then J.D. and Kaylah caught a stomach virus, and we've had to muster up even more strength to tend to the basics as well as change and wash seemingly endless amounts of clothing and sheets. (A 2 year just doesn't get the idea of when and where to throw up.)

But, I don't want this to sound like a complaining post. I'm not complaining. I have so much for which to be thankful!

I am thankful that a couple viruses going around have been the extent of my difficulties.
I am thankful for (fairly :)) obedient children who have done their best to make it easy on Mommy while she's been sick.
I am thankful for a husband who has done everything he can to be a help even though he hasn't been feeling well himself.
I am thankful for extended family nearby who have offered help as well.
I am thankful that God's strength is manifested through my weakness. He gives what we need each day - nothing more; nothing less.

I think I am on the upward slope today. I had enough strength to spend most of the morning disinfecting everything in sight. ("Infecting" as J.D. put it. :)) Hopefully we can get these germs out of here and we'll all be back on our way to some sense of "normalcy".

I'm also hoping to get the fall decorations taken down and the rest of the Christmas decorations put up sometime before Christmas day. :) In the meantime, the kids are still as happy as can be, and I so appreciate their good natured spirits! They know how to have fun with the simplest things! (Right now J.D. is using a folded up piece of paper as a gun and grinning like it's the greatest thing ever.)

I am so blessed.

Christmas Fun: Day Two

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 22:36:00 +0000

For the second day of our Christmas fun, we did phase one of making salt dough ornaments. They have to dry for a couple days before you can paint them. (So far it's not looking too promising as most of them have already broken. But we had fun trying anyway!)

Christmas Fun: Day One

noreply@blogger.com (MaryEllen@TheImperfectHomemaker) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 22:33:00 +0000

I have determined that we are going to do something fun or Christmas related every single day. I am the type that has to get all the housework done before we do anything "extra". The problem is that the housework never gets all the way done.
Have you seen this quote before?

Cleaning the house while the kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk while it’s snowing. -Phyllis Diller

That's why the housework never gets all the way done.
So I've just decided that we're going to do something every day whether the housework is done or not. I do not want to end up disappointed this year that we didn't get to do very many fun "Christmasey" things. I want the kids to grow up with special memories that they can keep forever. They won't remember an unvacuumed floor or a few undone dishes (and I probably won't either as long as we aim the camera away from it! :) )

We've done something three days in a row so far. I don't have time right now to post about all three days, so I'll just post day #1 really fast - putting up our Christmas tree. The house keeps shrinking every time we add another baby, so we're just using the small tree for the sake of room. The kids didn't seem to mind. I guess they're not old enough yet.

Sorry the video is a little long. I didn't take the time to edit it.