11 month Bean

This precious little baby boy is 11 months old today.

Do you know what that means???? He will be ONE in a month from today. and WOW am i not believing that one at all! He had a pretty rough couple of months when he was younger and some pretty scary times in the hospital but he is such a fighter we just knew he would pull through! He is the most smiley little boy you have ever met! Here are a few points about BrotherBean at 11 months:

• He eats anything and everything you put in front of him
• He lights up when his big brother walks in the room
• He loves the refrigerator, and can come out of no where crawling 90 to nothing when he hears the door open up
• He loves to roll around in clean, warm laundry
• He smiles ALL the time
• He loves to clap, "clack" with his tongue, pull socks off his feet, throw his head back and laugh, mimic you and imitate what you do
• He can say "mama" "dada" and "bubbas"
• He loves to stand and bounce and walk along furniture a bit
• He loves to get near the dogs food and water bowls...and he knows i hate it, so with a sheepish grin he does it anyway
• He goes to bed smiling and wakes up smiling

Happy 11 month birthday BrotherBean!

Fall Fun

What is Fall without a roll in the leaves?

It's so amazing and wonderful to me how these two boys of mine absolutely love each other! When BrotherBean walks in the room BooderBean literally lights up and screams with excitement. I hope they go on the rest of their lives taking care of each other, looking out for each other, and loving each other!

My Sweets and their Treats

We had a weekend FULL of festivities!  We started the weekend with Mexican dinner and mango margaritas to celebrate my early 30th birthday and my brothers early 24th birthday!  The evening was so fun and full of family! My folks surprised my brother and sister and i with tickets to the Transiberian Orchestra concert in December!!!!! Something I've been wanting to do for years, so talk about surprise!!!

The rest of the weekend included the following fun activities which I'll post about throughout the week:  early morning play-doh fun just BooderBean and I, baking for a cake walk, Fall Carnival at the boys school, potato sack races, playing in the leaves, trick-or-treating multiple times, building a fort, reading Halloween books in bed, shopping and major meltdowns, more trick-or-treating!

Halloween Night 2010:

Trick-or-Treating to Ponca City family:

BrotherBean and Aunt Sandy with a Halloween card:

Trick-or-Treating to Glencoe family

 Mommy and her boys hitting up the last houses:

Last photo of the night in their costumes-looking oh so tired!

In PJ's and loaded in the truck, ready to head home after a night of fun!

Happy Halloween

More photos will be taken this weekend but I had to post a quick one of the first time the boys were in their costumes!  MilitaryMan and I sewed and stitched and glued and cut until the weeeee hours of the night the night before they had to be worn for their first trick or treating event.  Didn't try the costumes on them until it was time to go-and said a quick prayer that all worked out well! We have 4 more Halloween events this weekend where they will get to dress up again...so needless to say the costumes will get some miles in!

Happy Halloween from my brave Fireman and his little Dalmatian brother :)

Par-Tay

BooderBean celebrated his 4th birthday this month and I have been so behind on my blogging that i completely forgot to post photos!
His party was SO MUCH fun for him and his friends, this was our first friends party and I think it went well.  I didn't get nearly as many photos as i had wanted (doesn't it always end up that way?) but i did have so much fun watching my boy and his buddies play! Maybe next year I'll be hiring our photographer friend, GreyGillFish, to come play and take party photos!

Apparently he loved the icing! and then insisted i take a photo so he could see his face :)

Even BrotherBean had a blast in the toddler area of the Gym

Time for cupcakes and ice-cream! These are his school friends and cousins with him.

Two of his school friends helping him open gifts.

Time to line up for cake! Here he was waiting for his BFF Addyson to come get in line-he even made the whole party wait for cake so she could get in line with them :)

I made his cake (as i do every year), and the theme was camouflage...this was a VERY last minute decision by BooderBean-as he changed his mind daily as to what he wanted the theme to be, finally he decided on camo and I did the cake design idea the night before, didnt' turn out nearly as cute as i wanted but hey--it was eaten right :)

I can't believe how big my little man is! Four years have gone by so fast.  He's gone from my little tiny baby--ok not really, he was born weighing in at 9lbs 8oz--to my big smart, strong, talented, happy, helpful, thoughtful, sensitive, considerate, creative, hilarious, snugly, big man!  I love this boy to pieces and every morning when he wakes up and runs in asking "is it morning yet? can i get up?" I thank God he is mine!

Catchin Up!

I was a NURSING NINJA...or so i dubbed myself :) 

I successfully nursed my two boys until both of them were 10 months old. While my goal both times was 12 months, I didn't quite make it.  Both boys decided they were just done with our little mommy baby time at 10 months so that is that.  I had a really hard time, emotionally, with BooderBean when he quit.  Yet with BrotherBean i am doing much better than i thought.  I am ready to get my body back to my own, and I'm really ready to wear clothing that doesnt' have to have a snap or clasp or easy access for a little one! so Victoria Secret...get ready, this momma is ready to shop again!

The photos that are making me smile so much lately are the ones where they just aren't "perfect".  i used to think we had to all be looking "perfect" to get a good photo...but after time, I am learning that the photos i love the best are the ones where we are caught  just really living in the moment!

These recent photos of my boys are just those kind...the "in the moment" photos!

on BooderBeans birthday we flooded the living room with balloons....the boys loved to dive into them together and this photo is a perfect reflection of the love BooderBean has for his brother, he loves to squeeze on this boy!

We took BooderBean to the Orr Family Farm for his birthday and had a blast! This photo is my boys and I jumping on the giant pillow! It's this photo that i love so much, just my boys and I having fun and not posing one bit.

BooderBean concentrated so hard on his cupcake creations while BrotherBean watched on.

School Lunches

BooderBean had a great birthday week last week! On Friday I surprised him at his school and had lunch with him and his little friends. It was so neat to see him in action in his classroom and see him following the routine along with everyone else.  I arrived early enough to see music time and see how all those little creative minds work! I love this age!  After lunch i stayed for a bit to play with him on the playground before their nap time, sure wish i could have stayed for nap time!  I didn't get very many photos since those little kiddos move so fast! but here are a few!

That evening we had  family game night, which i think we'll continue on every Friday night.  He is getting to be such a grown up boy!  Played by the rules, was a stickler on making sure daddy followed the rules too, he had to be the one to set the games up and tear them down, we of course had to have cups of juice while we played-in case we got thirsty and didn't want to have to get up, he told me!

Sweet Snacks

MilitaryMan and I let BooderBean stay up past his bedtime the other night so he could help make his fun birthday cupcakes to take to his school friends for today's birthday celebration at school.  MilitaryMan thought it would be fun to get the blender out and make some yummy smoothies to sip on while we baked!  I put BrotherBean to bed early so we could get started on our baking fun. BooderBean loves to help out in the kitchen so the evening was a blast.  Long story-short:  we ended up baking 2 1/2 dozen cup cakes that evening from scratch and then weren't able to bring them to school so he gets to serve his friends store bought pie and store bought sherbet today instead.  And i now have a mound of homemade vanilla cupcakes at my house if anyone wants to come grab a snack!

The smoothies turned out yummy-perfect peach smoothies!

Enjoy the fun photos from the night.  We'll be taking him for some birthday fun tomorrow for his 4th birthday, check next week for photos!

The blender is LOUD daddy!

Daddy and BooderBean making peach smoothies!

mmmm perfect peach smoothie!

 

making sure mommy put all the ingredients in!

licking up the leftovers he said

 finished product

Bathing Boys

BooderBean absolutely loves that Brother is old enough now to take baths with him! Bathtime is a fun time at our house as I'm sure it is for every family with little ones.  We haven't let the boys take bubble baths together yet, simply because everything under the sun goes straight into Brothers mouth--and i know bubbles would be one of them! 

I have some better bath time photos out there somewhere but these are the ones i took this week and i wanted to stick to my plan for the week of posting all the fun things we did during BooderBeans birthday week. 

Enjoy the silly boys photos!

Tomorrows post...Popcorn Cupcakes and Peach Smoothies!

Duck, Duck, GOOSE

The Krout Sprouts had a really fun relaxing, doing basically nothing but hanging out with my boys and having a good ol' family fun time!

Saturday we took the boys to the Outdoor and Wildlife Expo held in Guthrie at the Expo Center.  If you haven't been before i highly encourage it.  There was lots to do for everyone, BooderBean got to kayak, make his very own rope, and touch a real live alligator.  BrotherBean got to ride around in a stroller and people watch (his favorite thing!), touch all kinds of animal skin, and take a nap while riding around.  MilitaryMan and i got to look at some really cool stuff and shop a bit. So all in all a great day! Left the camera at home so no pictures from that day except for what is on my cell phone...and of course those are too good. I may post some later though.

Sunday we took the boys and my mom to the duck pond and park in Ponca City. Had a blast! both boys had so much fun feeding the ducks and watching them swim around and come up to them.  We also took BooderBeans bike with us and he got really brave at riding around and going up and down the hills and trying to do tricks, nearly giving his momma a heart attack the first time i saw him barreling down the hill!

Here are the boys...BrotherBean even got in on feeding the ducks...or himself that is! BooderBean is showing off the bread he is about to hurdle into the pond.

Not quite sure what BrotherBean was doing but he looks so cute like he's embarrassed

He loved sitting on the stump watching the ducks!

Posing with my favorite almost 4 year old!

 BrotherBean tried to crawl away from daddy and snag the bread!

Birthday Week!

This amazing boy is all MINE MINE MINE, and he will be turning four this Saturday, October 2nd.  I like to think birthdays shouldn't be just one day, you should get an entire week (or more!) to celebrate.  So this week I am planning all kinds of fun things for BooderBean, they are all the simple things in life that he loves to do and i plan to make this week amazing for him! 

He's such a fun and silly boy, and really growing into be such a smart little cookie! 

I think I'll save the "update on the last year" post for later in the week, I'm already a bit emotional :)

Here is a a photo that is ALL BooderBean!  It has turned into one of my favorites because it is the true BooderBean smile!  GreyGillfish of course took his photos. 

She is amazing in so many ways and i am so lucky to know her and call her my friend!

This week i plan to blog every day about my sweet big boy so watch for some pretty funny stuff!

Giddy on up!

BooderBean has informed us from a very young age that he is going to be a Farmer!  Over the last year he has become obsessed with Cowboys, Firefighters, and Farmers.  He has all the gear for all three at home and likes to dress up in the gear a lot.  If we see firetrucks, ambulances, etc. while out driving he is memorized by what they do and has a million questions.  Quite often you will find him asking us "Lets talk about Firemen" (or any other service worker of any kind).  What he really means by this is-Tell me EVERYTHING you know about them.  And if he doesn't think you've told him everything, then he'll ask the next person in the car or insist on asking Daddy when we get home!  He's also such a little ham, and likes to have his picture taken!  One random Saturday recently, he came out of his room all geared up in his Halloween costume from last year and sat on his cow and wanted his picture taken!  What a funny boy we have!

Here he jsut had to have a photo taken while drinking from his Canteen (full of milk!)

two times the trouble

Don't these two just look like trouble in the making...

BooderBean had coaxed BrotherBean to crawl through the tunnel of the tent and they both

had some pretty silly faces afterward!

These two have SO much fun together, it is so fun to watch them learning to play together!

I have a feeling these boys will be trying to pull all kinds of tricks over mommy and daddy over the years!

Smarty Pants

Ok...it has been determined that when BooderBean enters grade school we just might be needing to hire a tutor for him! The boy is smart...and not the "he's my kid so I'm biased" kind of smart either, he's so good at logic and problem solving. it amazes me and cracks me up all at the same time! The boy is a born negotiator and will most defiantly be in congress some day!

Since we have a 40 minute one way commute we tend to pack our breakfasts and eat in the car together each morning...here's what the dialog went like today:

Me:  BooderBean you ready for breakfast?
B:  yeah, what did you pack for me today?
Me:  You have cinnamon sugar waffles, sliced apples, yogurt, and milk
B:  MILK??? i told you i wanted JUUUUUUUUICE!!!!
Me:  yeah and you had juice yesterday so you need milk today!
B:  ok, so then i will have strong bones right?
Me:  right, now come on-please eat your breakfast for momma
    (about 5 minutes pass and it's quiet in the backseat)
Me:  BooderBean what part of your breakfast are you eating?
B:  do you hear me eating?
Me:  nope i sure don't!
B:  then I'm probably eating my waffle huh, because if i was eating my apples you would know it.
Me:  really? how is that bud?
B:  because apples are loud and crunchy and you would hear them, and waffles are soft and quiet and you wont' hear them.

and all of this was in a very matter of fact kind of conversation, not rude, not condescending, just matter of fact mom!
pretty smart if you ask me!
love that boy!

9/4/04

Hard to believe that this hunky man and I will have been married
6 years on Saturday!

Following a 5 year generation tradition of marriages on September 4th.

Happy early anniversary Mom and Dad, Bobby and Marjorie, and all our past family members who blessed us with the sacrament of their Marriage to carry on the tradition.

Andy-- Forever and Always

weekend walk

This past weekend we spent some amazing time with MilitaryMan's side of the family at the 2010 Krout Family Reunion! We had a great time and it was so great to see BooderBean running around with all the other kiddos his age! They only get to see each other a few times a year but they instantly began playing again.  BooderBean warmed right up to our cousins Toni and Greg and their son Gage, remember he was in their wedding back in May...well Greg and Gage are BooderBeans new buddies and you couldn't keep them apart! So great to see such great family memories starting!

After the reunion on Sunday the weather was PERFECT for an early evening walk around my parents neighborhood! So we took full advantage!

The photos aren't the best but i just had to share anyway!