Seattle

Yesterday we decided to take a family trip to Seattle. We haven't been in a while and there's nothing to do around here when it rains. Plus my brother is coming soon and we wanted to remember where to park and things for when he comes.
The boys LOVED driving through the tunnels and under bridges. And they really really loved driving down the huge hills to get to the water. We first went to Ivars, ate lunch, and fed the seagulls (of course). The boys thought that was fun. We went to the indoor arcade just to ride the merry go round. Jared and Jaden went but Jackson didn't want to. We walked around a bit and then went to the aquarium. It was pretty busy but not terrible. The boys really liked that. Especially the place they could touch starfish and things. It was a little crazy keeping up with them though. Then Jared, Jackson, and Jaden went to ride the "fun miracle round" (merry go round) one last time. That's a very short description of a long day but we had lots of fun. Here are some pictures. I'll add a video later of feeding the seagulls. (it hasn't uploaded yet for some reason) You will witness there when Jackson decided he was done putting the fries directly into the birds mouths. At the end of the day Jackson said his favorite thing was feeding the seagulls and Jaden said his favorite was the "miracle round"

Invitation to view Jared and Rachel's Picasa Web Album - Uploaded 2010\May\30

You are invited to view Jared and Rachel's photo album: Uploaded 2010\May\30 Uploaded 2010\May\30 May 30, 2010 by Jared and Rachel View Album Play slideshow If you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=thebryantshouse&target=ALBUM&id=5477293501013353713&authkey=Gv1sRgCPCrmP7FpZvOVw&invite=CIzsgMoB&feat=email To share your photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, get your own free Picasa Web Albums account.

Litterally a minute after starting our way home from Seattle

Feeding seAguls at Seattle iCard

Geep and Gran

My parents came to visit for about a week and the boys had tons of fun! The weather was decent most of the time so we were able to go the beach, build sandcastles, have a campfire, take a LONG walk around the lake, try a new restaurant, have a girls shopping day, have a picnic, and play at home. Here are some pictures....

Dirty

My vacuum is a mess. I have had an oreck for nearly 10 years and love it. It has not been doing so well and when I got a quote for repairs it was quite pricey. Didn't even include a tune up. So costco had a sale on their oreck and a dyson online. I ordered the dyson and it hasn't come yet. We got the new oreck today (wanting to compare) and tested it out. In doing so we were looking at the manual and began trying things on our old one. We shampooed the bag (apparrently it smelled like 10 wet dogs whenever it was turned on) and the smell seems to be gone. Figured out how to change the brush (will have to order a part), Jared repaired the cord, changed the belt, and took it apart so we could clean the tubes and housing. It is very possible it is as good as new for nearly no money! I'm still curious enough to test the dyson since it's allready coming but so glad our old one looks saveable.
Anyway, we didn't realize the outer bag would get that dirty. After all, there's an inner bag where all the dirt goes! We vacuumed it out and then shampooed it and this was the water after....



GROSS. Granted, this was after nearly 10 years. I will now be doing this every month. I don't know why it didn't occur to us before! Partly, we were just intimidated to take it all apart in case we ruined it.
Yay for clean!


-- Posted From My iPhone

Promises

This isn't the greatest picture, but there was a BEAUTIFUL rainbow tonight....



-- Posted From My iPhone

Kylie = Random

So after a day of completely rejecting nursing Kylie was willing to take a bottle. Now she's back to nursing but also willing to take a bottle. We'll see how long thus keeps up. Once again Kylie = Random




-- Posted From My iPhone

Sound asleep in the car after a fun shopping day

Date with jacks

Kids catching up on cars videos with Geep

Gross

Me: jackson can you go get me a tissue for you and one for Jaden?
Jaden: I need one? Is there something on my nose?
Me: don't touch it and stop putting your face on the couch
Jaden: what is on my nose?
Me: there's a boog on your face
Jaden: oh. Yeah. A dead one.


-- Posted From My iPhone

Random

We had a great mother's day! Jared and the boys let me sleep in and went and got me flowers and blueberry bushes (Jackson's pick). When they got home they couldn't wait to give them to me so I came downstairs to see. Then they made me chocolate and strawberry crepes. Yum! Jared has perfected his crepe recipe and cooking style and they were delicious! The boys were then SUPER cranky so all the kids took a LONG nap while Jared and I relaxed and then we had a late lunch picnic and campfire at the (PACKED) beach. After the kids went to bed Jared made me a yummy steak dinner. It was a great day!
The boys LOVE to play outside. It used to be no matter how much there was to do out there it was a stretch to keep them out there for 40 min. Now, they'll stay out there all day. They play really well together (most of the time) and have tons of fun! Kylie likes it when she and I go out there and she gets to swing and watch me play with the boys.
Kylie is doing great. Such a happy baby. She's definitely a sleeper. I've enjoyed her going to bed earlier in the evening so I can have some time to myself or with jared and still get to bed at a reasonable hour. It does make it challenging if we are going somewhere at night though because if she isn't distracted she's a mess of tiredness. She also really needs at least one nap a day. I remember this stage with the boys!
Potty training is going MUCH better! I've decided to do one at a time because in doing them both someone was always having and accident while i was working with the other one and we were getting nowhere. I'm working with Jaden right now and it's going quite well. When we're home I put him in underwear (he got to pick out a pack at the store) all day except naps and bedtime. When we're out he wears a diaper which is a pain but I've come to the realization that sometimes pullups do NOT work for them and it's the worst mess ever - not good when you're out. I worked with him just a little last week and on his underwear day he had one accident. This week he's been in underwear every day and only had one accident. It's clear he's catching on though he's not telling me he needs to go and is denying having to (but that's to be expected right?) In a couple weeks i may attempt to not diaper him when we go out and will also get started with Jackson. If Jaden has success he gets 2 m&ms and Jackson gets one. That way Jaden knows he's being rewarded for his success and Jackson doesn't have to sit around for weeks without the opportunity to be rewarded for it. (I won't even let him go if he asks UNLESS Jaden has JUST gone - otherwise I'll get overwhelmed again - plus I know he's just asking so he can get candy :)) Jackson is clear that in a couple weeks it will be his turn to get 2 candies and have Jaden get one. The downfall of this plan is that Jaden always goes right before nap and the candies keep them hyped up for about half an hour. They're small so you wouldn't think so - but they do :)
The boys have been napping much better. They nap almost every day and i sit in their room till they go to sleep.
here's a video I thought was cute....

Check out this great photo!!!

Sent via iPicasso

Sent from my iPhone

Happy Mothers Day!

Mothers day picnic at the beach

Stats

I can't remember if I posted Kylie's 6 month stats (which were actually done at 7 months) If not, here they are....
height - 27 inches (off the charts)
weight - 18lbs 11oz (95th percentile)
Developmentally she's doing fantastic.
So she's getting a bit taller and slimming down. She's doing great! She'll fit in her car seat for another inch and/or 3 lbs. We thought we were going to have to give it up a long time ago but her growth slowed. Even now though she can't wear a sweatshirt or coat and still be buckled. But that's ok, she has a REALLY warm bundle me on there and would actually be too hot in a sweatshirt anyway. So we just bring one along.
Today the boys had their 3 year appt. A couple months late due to insurance. No shots so I'm glad about that. I knew it too so was able to prepare them for their appt better. It was totally different this year because they knew exactly what was going on and were able to express themselves. Jared came with me and I'm so glad because otherwise it definitely would have been a challenge. They were both very good and our Dr was SUPER great with them. Jackson was very quiet and very clingy. You could tell he didn't want to do the stuff he was asked to. But he did. Of course on our way out he starts talking a mile a minute and says "that was fun!" Jaden was super great about it with the nurse and he went first. Then for the dr part Jackson went first and Jaden started to cry watching (even though it was obviously no big deal) I think he was just concerned because they had to strip down to their pull ups and they don't really like that. Especially in a weird environment. Afterwards we took them for a treat at starbucks real quick and then had lunch. here are their stats....
Jackson:
Weight: 35 pounds (75th percentile)
Height: 39.75 inches (90th percentile)
Developmentally scored highest on everything except the way he holds his pen. I think this is just because he doesn't care. While he loves working on art projects and coloring - he doesn't really do them for long I'm pretty sure because he can't yet do them to his standards :)
Jaden:
weight: 39.5 pounds (90th percentile)
height: 41.75 inches (95th percentile)
Developmentally scored highest on everything.
Both of them are measuring a little older than 4 and their head size a little older than 5 :)
They weigh more than I thought which means we can put them in booster seats instead of what they're in now. They technically could stay in what they're in now until they no longer needed one but it will be cheaper to buy BOTH boys new boosters than Kylie one new car seat. Plus the boosters are much smaller and easier to move around, keep clean, etc. So we'll likely do that soon. Or at least when Kylie needs to graduate.
Kylie was very good at their appt for which I was greatful. However, she wanted to be held to be happy and both boys wanted to be held for which I was especially thankful Jared was there because that would have gotten quite interesting.
So thankful for healthy kids!

WEIRD

Have you heard of Spokeo? I think it's ridiculous. If you want to be found or you want to find someone then I guess it's for you. However, I don't like what they know about you and decide they can post - or in many cases what they THINK they know about you.
You have to pay to get all the information on yourself or anyone else, but there's plenty of free info there. I'm in there complete with address and phone number. And more. For free. However, here are some interesting facts about us that are NOT true and I wonder where they got that "info" from...
Jared: apparently he's African-American, our home is valued at over $1 mil, we have no kids, our house was built in 2001, he's in his 20s and 30s at the same time and there's a picture - but it's not him - AND the person isn't even African-American. oh, and he also likes to knit.
Rachel: i have a college degree, i'm in sales and marketing, i have no children, my home does not have central heating, and several pictures - none of which are me.
I was tempted to pay the fee to see what else they think they know about me but decided against it.
See what I mean? Anyway, you can click on "privacy" at the bottom of the page and delete your info. Which I did.

The boys love the chipmunks and got toy ones in their happy meal a while back

Look Both Ways

Recently Jaden has become SUPER concerned about looking both ways when crossing the street. They've always been good about it and it's something we've taught them. However, now when approaching a street Jaden constantly tells us we need to look both ways. Then he stops and very dramatically looks both ways for quite some time (to the frustration of drivers at crosswalks) while we're crossing if a car is approaching at a distance he freaks out. If he crosses with Jared before me he keeps turning around and telling me to look both ways and is very concerned. We thought it was weird. Then the other day I watched an episode of Barney with the boys and they made a BIG deal about crossing the street and they sang a song about it (to which Jaden sang along). During the song all the kids looked both ways very dramatically (just like Jaden) and then I understood. :)
On another note, Jaden has discovered the word "why". Currently it is almost always directed to Jackson but I know my day is coming.....


-- Posted From My iPhone

Random

Random pics I just pulled off my phone. A few you've seen before...