Brice's Birthday

Brice turned 2 a couple weeks ago. I am a bad mother for just now posting this. Hopefully he won't hate me for it someday. As previously mentioned, we took a trip to KC the week before Brice's Birthday and had a party with family. Then on his Birthday, I couldn't resist making a cake for him, so we invited a few friends over to share in the sugar with us. I cannot believe he is 2 now. I will post some pictures of his parties. But, before I do that, I want to run down all the cool things Brice is doing now that he is two...

* Talking...incessantly. He can and will say just about anything - better watch your mouth around him! He can speak in short sentences, but often, his mouth moves faster than his brain can think, so his sentences come out pretty broken and scattered. It's so cute when he gets excited, because he will just spout out words that go together, but not in any order. Some of our favortie phrases/words: "car-tunes", "sorry dude", "Brice Kuhl", "kool-i-ade", "Rider awake - play Rider!", "see?", and my all time fave..."clean up, clean up, clean up".

*Bopping...in big people terms...jumping. He can jump and get both feet off the ground. His most recent display of this talent was when he was Tigger for Halloween, and when asked what Tigger does, he would proceed to "bop, bop, bop". Awesome.

*Singing...especially in the car...to old Sesame Street songs. I love it...he doesn't know all the words, but he knows when the notes go higher, and he belts them out. He will also sing with me to several favorite songs, which Rider thinks is pretty funny. Also, awesome!

*Counting. He is just like his momma...he counts everything. From the shapes on the bottoms of his shoes to the number of waffle pieces on his plate. His numbers go something like this...one, two, three, four, six, ne-nen, eight, nine, two, three, etc. I love it!

*Cleaning up. I promise I didn't really force him into this. It is something I think they taught him at MOPS, and it has just stuck. He loves to clean up...I must say, I really like it!

*Sleeping on his couch. I'm not sure exactly how this started, but he prefers to sleep on the little love seat in his room rather than his bed. Whatever - I don't care as long as he sleeps. I usually go in before I go to bed and put him in bed, but sometimes, he just sleeps there all night - or on the floor next to it. Oh, and he doesn't sleep with his pacifier anymore, either. What a big boy!

Alright - here are the pictures...

His party in KC

Pretty sure he's in love with Addy :)

Birthday kiss from Addy...yeah, we put her up to it.

"Car cake"

Happy Birthday, Sweet Brice! We love you!!

Trip to KC

We had 2 great reasons to make a trip to KC a few weeks back. Brice was about to turn 2, and his family in KC, of course, wanted to spend time with him for his Birthday. AND, the Cowboys played the Chiefs. Since I don't work, (that could be debated...pretty sure I worked pretty hard today...anyway...) we decided I would make the trip on Monday, and Darren would join us on Friday. The question became...do I drive with both boys for 10 hours or brave the airports for an hour and a half flight? If you count the time it took to get from our house to my sister's house, the airport route took a total of 6 hours...yes, please. Now, traveling with two children under 2 (Brice hadn't had his Birthday yet) isn't easy...don't get me wrong. BUT, God was so faithful in ordering our steps for us. Everything we did that morning was smooth. We had incredibly sweet people sitting next to us - willing to hold Rider when I needed to lift Brice's carseat into the airplane seat, understanding when one of them may have fussed (which was actually very rare - even without the DVD player!), and no doubt, placed there for a reason. The flight attendants were very helpful, and both boys even slept a little. Anyway, we got there, and I think I could even do it again! We spent a relaxing week in KC - not doing much - just enjoying family time. Darren drove in on Friday night, and we got to see his family on Saturday. We had Brice's Birthday party that night. I didn't plan it well, but it all worked out in the end...we even got to eat Pizza Shoppe - which we miss! Sunday was the big game. Really - it was a win-win situation for me. Either team could have won, and we'd have been happy - well, I would have. Darren is pretty loyal to the Cowboys. Anyway, we went with Darren's dad and brother, and ended up with some pretty good seats. After an overtime victory by Dallas, the boys all went home happy. :) (I'm convinced the Cowboys won because I was cheering for the Chiefs - you're welcome Dallas!) Anyway, we left the next Monday, and had a LONG 11 hour drive home (not really 11 hours of driving, but after stopping with Grandma and Grandad for a delicious lunch and being stuck in Paducah, KY for an hour in traffic, it ended up being an all day affair.) Some pics of the week we spent in KC...

Playing with Taylor at Brice's Party

Playing with more cousins

Go Chiefs...er Cowboys!

Trip to the Farm

Okay - we didn't actually take a trip to a real farm, but we did drive about 10 minutes from home to go to Ring Farm back at the beginning of October (or was it end of September?? It's been a while since I've updated, huh?) Anyway, it had rained for something like 2 weeks straight, and we finally saw clear skies in the future one Saturday afternoon. So, we waited for the sun to come out, and then headed out to the farm. Since it had been so rainy, we were the only ones there. We were able to get some pumpkins, navigate the corn maze, climb a pile of rocks - okay - only Brice climbed the rocks, go down slides made of industrial sized tubes, and take a private hayride (private only because we were the only ones there). Enjoy some pictures from our day at the farm!

I told you we had a lot of rain!!

Brice's Pile-o-Rocks...he loved this! (Those shorts still look dirty - after 3 washings!)

Tube Slides...doesn't feel great on the behind!


Hayride - what handsome guys?!?

"How Tall This Fall?"

We had a great time - I love it when we get to spend time as family out and about making memories. For now, they are just memories for Darren and I, and will be memories through pictures for the boys. But, memories nonetheless.