Dear Dad.........

First and foremost I do miss you - Mom warned me when we were on the plane that there were a lot of grandmas and grandpas that lived here and not too many kids, so I would have to play with a lot of grown ups while I was here. I am not sure what mom was talking about I am having a ball and haven't found it that hard to make friends.....

We did the hula at the Luau and watched fire dancers....

Yesterday we went to the zoo and got to feed a giraffe right out of our hands - it was pretty cool Grandpa fed him after I saw that big mammoth tongue coming my way.....

I hope you and bugs are having fun and can't wait to see you!

Love,

Brooklyn.

Seriously....We do Really miss you :)

Well in the course of the past 24 hours....Brooklyn has traveled across the country on two planes (did awesome and loved chatting with our row mates...), has eaten every meal outside so far, had her own personal Easter egg hunt, jammed out at a local park, swam for 3 straight hours, which induced a 3 hour nap, got a sunburn, met all the neighbor dogs, ran into the screen door 3 times(she does have a little Novacek in her after all!), and ran wild on the golf course for hours, got up at 5 am but still got 11 hours of sleep, 3 hours time change is a killer..... So if you can't tell someone is in her GLORY and loving her visit so far....tomorrow a straight up Luau......she is already wearing her coconut bra and grass skirt....haha - sorry I just overheard her outside saying "I want to take my boobies off" haha too much - these old folks are crazy here Anyway we are having a ball already but we do miss you Dad and Butterball! Here's some pix of the trip so far......I know it's just plain old obnoxious at this point but the weather is heavenly and so nice to be outside......

Playing babies with G'ma....

Swimming at the pool.....
A lil' more supervision without the puffy suit this year...
Taking some strokes with face in water...
Cruising the lazy river with G'pa

A Hare of a Holiday!

Hope everyone had a happy Easter! We were lucky enough to have TJJA in for the weekend so the kids were in their glory. We got a visit from the floppy eared fellow as well as a random visit from Alex P. Keaton circuit 1987. Sorry Brady I couldn't help myself!!!

We did the egg hunt, we colored eggs, we opened baskets,watched hours of March Madness, we gorged on jelly beans, we ate ham, and then we did what every other religiously appropriate family would do on Easter - hit the cinema for a good old movie and a big tub of corn!! Thanks Dr. Seuess for making our Easter a special one.....

Ahhh vinegar and a colored tablet = hours of fun!

Look Ma - I got one......

Cousin Bousins just lovin' on each other.....Does Brady look like a ventriloquist dummy sitting on Lexi's lap? haha!

The inseparable duo in action - these two did not leave each others sides......

Jake being a great cousin before bed time......What is it about Dora that all these kids adore.....It appears that swiper has gone and swiped Brady's eye balls!

Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Go UCLA......

Suicide or Sabotage???

It came without warning. There were no cries for help, no warning signs, no note left. And just like that Clara is gone. We are still a little suspect - you see Clara didn't take the normal path to the pearly gates. There were no gasps for air, there was no floating at the top of the bowl. She in fact appeared to make a break for it jumping out of her fish bowl and flopping far down the kitchen counter where she lay stiff and hardened. This was a great treat for Mom who came down after a long night out on the town and feeling a little fuzzy from the night before to view this crime scene. So what could have made Clara so unhappy to take her own life? Was it the fact that she lived in a bowl of her own excrement? Was she soo mad that we found we purchased a new fish food? Was she furious that her boyfriend Angelo hadn't been by to see her in a long time? These questions will remained unanswered and we may never know why she took her own life (Grandma swears she was in her bowl when she headed up to bed!) but Clara you will be missed and you were loved.

Born July 11, 2007. She grew up in Michigan and spent most of her life viewing the kitchen sink and telephone. Clara was preceded in death by pretty much ALL her friends and family that were given out on Brady's first birthday. She is survived by Angelo and Nemo and they have said “Clara's generosity and kind heart were an inspiration to all. She lived her life with integrity and bravery"

A memorial service will be held SOON, before the plastic bag breaks it's seal and we start to smell the remains of dear ol' Clara. The family wishes that all contributions to go to Petsmart.

Happy Birthday Dad/Hubbie!!

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to the dear OLD hubbie - His birthday was yesterday and as much as I would love to write everything we love about him - we were fortunate enough to go out and celebrate on the town for his birthday and the four hours of sleep are just not agreeing with me - So here are some pix of us whooping it up for Hubbie to join in the 35 and over crowd! (Thanks Grandma!!!) Happy Birthday Babe! We love you!

Dad enjoying one of his favorites - Black Forest Cake!

Enjoying the night life with the birthday boy - we were able to head out and watch a friend that plays in a band!

One of the benefits of knowing someone in the band - is that you have random guest appearances - which Chris just REALLY hates :) Here he is performing "rock and roll all night" by yup you guessed it....the hottest band in the land....

Lastly, HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY - AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM AND PAMPY!!!!

Waterpark Wisdom......

We took the kids to an indoor water park last weekend and they had a BLAST! What's not to like? Splashing, swimming, tidal waves, slides, games, whirlpools, friends. However we all left in an induced chlorinated coma....swimming and keeping your eyes on your two kids as well as the additional six that accompanied us was a lot of work - this was our first water "vacation" with the kids so here are some do's and dont's to consider for the future.....

Do: Arrive in your swimsuit - juggling a locker room with total strangers and trying to get everyone dressed - not a party - short lived - but just a note......

Don't - Bring a bag the size Texas with every living thing to make your day manageable with two kids only to find out the lockers are the size of a bread box and you will be just leaving it out for any one's enjoyment.

Do: wear a comfortable, appropriate suit - the water slides and bumpy bottom of the pool are not ideal for a "lay on a chair suit"

Don't expect to see or talk with your husband the entire four hours as your four year old finds out she can stand the entire length of the lazy river and just does laps at warp speed where Chris can't even keep up with her.....

Do go with large group it is a great option to trade off watching kids so the adults can enjoy hot tub time and the slides that are just too big for the lil ones.....

Don't try and stay up all night playing cards and charades and then give the water park another try in the morning and expect to have one ounce of energy to keep up with both kids who are in hog heaven!!

Do expect to eat every living naughty thing that the snack bar offers :)

Don't expect to sit down at a restaurant with 16 people and expect to get out of there in less than 2.5 hours :)

Do expect that facilities are ready to accommodate people wanting to eat breakfast at 7am since they have been up for what seems to be eternity and are starving.....

Don't feel ashamed to go to the buffet in your pajamas - you will be relieved to see every other parent with a toddler in tow that has been up at the crack of dawn and sporting their "I can't believe they woke up so early wear"

Do study your child's face as they laugh uncontrollably because they have just have been splashed by a huge gust of water some kid aimed at them, or look so proud as they try a baby slide in the toddler section for the first time, or remain wide eyed and mouth open as they "swim" in the lazy river and think they are swimming instead of a "fake current" that guides them along - then all the don'ts really don't seem like that big of a deal - it was definitely worth all the sweating and splashing and of course a great way to wish away the winter boredom.....

Enjoy some pix of the weekend.......

Having trouble posting pix tonight - will add more later......

The age of Techonology........

I never thought it would be 4 years and 19 months of age!! Here are the kiddos hard at "work". Brooke begs us to get on the computer for typing and good ol' Nickelodian games all the time......(The last thing Chris and I would "like" to do after an 8 hour day ON the computer! :)) and now she has taken someone under her wing and is now explaining the ropes of the mouse, the keyboard etc etc.....Its amazing how quickly they pick it up! Its funny to think I have only been using the computer since my days at the WMU computer lab and already I feel like life doesn't exist without it.....our kids will NEVER know life without it - WOW times change - I can't even phatom what technology will be like 20 years from now.......

Enjoy!

The Need for Speed!!!

Brooke made her second apperance on the ski hill and showed a lot of improvement! She loves the big hills and going super fast - but lets be realistic Chris' back and thighs can only take so much :). So off to the super bunny hill they went and she really made a lot of progress - by the end of the night she was going down by herself (with Chris close at bay....) I wish I was still out there by then so I could of snapped some video of her - but Mom and Brady were lodge bound when the sun went down and dinner time approached! Here are some photos of downhill fun!

Instructor DAD......

Ready to hit the slopes!!
Brady only got to sled, but seriously loved running around at the end of the hill and watching sister go...go...go!

Thanks for being such a good trooper lil' one.

And Action......

In other news Mom and Dad - I am not sure why - but I am counting the days - oh yeah now I remember because we have apparently been living in Alaska for the past month.....I heard some random statistic on the radio that there has been snow 38 out of the last 43 days or something ridiculous! I don't remember last winter dragging out this long without some sort of relief.....So do a little sunshine dance for us - we are looking forward to it because somehow I won't be missing this too much

However I will be darn sad to see this face stay here in the tundra of winter and will miss him dearly! Somehow I know Dad has got some fine manly things for you to accomplish :)

I've got my eye on you Devin K........

So with Valentines day fresh in our memories. There has been a lot of talk of hearts, love and marriage at the Munson household. Brooke has been cracking us up lately with her "love" talk. She came home from school one day explaining in an annoyed voice "Mom, Devin K. tells me that he loves me and wants to marry me every day....good greif" I say well that's nice. She replies in a now whinny 4 year old frusterated voice "But, mom I just don't know who to fall in love with!" (like this was seriously stressing her out and couldn't continue with life until she figured it out) I told her she wasn't the only one thinking that and that she had plenty of time to decide. oh vey!
Fast forward a few days later we hop in the car and she proceeds to tell Chris and I that Devin K. told her that he changed his mind and doesn't want to marry her and that he is choosing Maddy now. Insert defensive mom mode - I am all like who is this Devin K person and why isn't my little Brookie good enough for you now and who is this Maddy chick - then I snap back to reality and realize that I am talking with my FOUR year old and giggle at my instinctual reaction. So instead I just say "Don't worry Brooke, you'll find someone that is perfect for you one day!" She continues to press on - apparently this Devin K. struck a cord..."But mom, why do boys have to change their minds so much?" "Hmmm great question Brooke, why don't you ask your father" (insert sly smirk and glare towards Chris)haha! We concluded that unfortunately boys will do things that we may never understand so get used to it sista'!

On the other hand Brady spent his valentines day inserting his chompers into his friend Sabrina's arm for apparently getting too close to his Crayola's. Like I said Brooke..... Boys will do stuff that we will just never understand.

Now can we please move on to Easter where our main concern will be hiding from a stuffed human (because my kids hate the stuffed humans).I am hoping Easter won't initiate more life long LOVE lessons, but instead just the battle of who got more candy in their little fake plastic eggs! :)

And now were Solid ......Solid as a Rock!

Warning:

Graphics contained in this blog might not be suitable for young children or adults browsing the internet on their lunch hour........



Well we have waited 19 long months but it finally happened - Brady had his first solid poop! I know gross huh? And as most of you are sitting there going why? why does she feel that this is necessary blog worthy news - well let me tell you it has been 581 days that we have been dealing with the horrendous side effects of not having one! So as ridiculous as it might sound to praise the solid stool - I will not let it go unnoticed my excitement for the first time I didn't have to encounter one the following:

• Using a bare minimum of 5-15 wipes everytime we change him


• The close calls of it exiting the top of the diaper from having such "loose form"


• The gut wrenching thought of smearing as you catch a wif and see him bouncing on a ball or any other object


• the sweating involved while keeping his hands occupied and busy while changing him hoping he doesn't start applying it as lotion...


• a full on bath because you just don't have the energy or the quanity of wipes to tackle the job.


• Bringing your pristine, smell so good want to eat him baby out of the bath in order to apply a fresh diaper only to smell mud 30 seconds later.


• Hand washing onzies in the tub after a blowout.


• Never really knowing if I moved enough parts around to really get rid of it all.

So you see this was a big day in the Munson household and we want to shout it from the roof tops - bring on the logs, pebbles, baby ruths, kids at the pool - whatever you wish to call them just keep them dense and firm! So come on and celebrate firm fecal with us!! Wahooo Brady!

Proud Dad moment #983

Toe Pick.......

Well what else do you do when life throws a foot of snow your way (that's right M&D - how was Hawaii again?) - you bundle up and make lemonade out of Michigan's lemon weather. We took the kids ice skating (ie walking on ice) it was fun, the kids enjoyed it more when Chris did all the work and they got to experience top speed. Here are some pix of the event....

Lacing up......

Check it out Mom - real skates (thanks for having a small foot Luci!)

The lessons begin......

Here I go again - She thought falling was as much fun as "skating"

Toe Pick....


Poor Dad's Back!!!

Now presenting the shortest skate in history!!

Latest Obssessions.....

Brady - anything to get his oral fixation......The binky has been gone for about 3 weeks now and bless this guys heart -he has been doing great, but he has now replaced it with anything he can get his hands on or his mouth around ......We caught him the other day just standing at the cabinets sucking away......poor lil man!

Brooklyn - the "pink" obsession has apparently gone beyond just the love for the pale hue.....She has also become quite taken with the singer PINK (as well as some rock star make-up application) - here is her latest rendition of the pop star.

Shhhhh Don't Tell........

While Brooke accompanied her Dad and Uncle to a hockey game tonight I found myself home alone with my lil man......... and what better to do while Dad is away but have a tea party with my son! I am sure Brady was just pacifying me because he finally got to play with Brooke's "breakable" toys that she is always putting out of his reach! Perhaps this was more my attempt to bring out his inter gentle side - you see when I read through Brady's sheet from school today the teacher had wrote "I have noticed Brady is being a little aggressive" HA! I think that is the nice way to say - umm your kid is the class bully. So tonight we left behind the usual WWF main event that happens every night on our bed - and sat down for a nice distinguished cup o' tea - for tomorrow night I know it will be back to how can I break this tea pot and sugar bowl over my sisters head as I do a leg drop to pin her down!

Cheers my Big Bully!

Nut Jobs!

Just a quick update with some recent videos of the nut jobs we are raising........

Brooke jamming out doing a tap dance routine I told her before she went to bed that she reminded me of Gregory Hines and she goes "good grief mom I was Mumbo from Happy feet" haha.

Again not sure why it is sideways......

And also not sure if Gregory Hines ever busted his moves to "Hot for Teacher"??

Here is Brady getting grilled on his 20 questions - its so fun to finally have him comprehend what we ask him - but I can just imagine he is like "seriously again with the tiger sound....puhleeze give me a challenge folks....you have been asking me that every 15 seconds since I learned it!" I as you can tell we haven't gotten sick of it - hope you don't either.......

DETOX!!

Well we pulled the plug on Brady's crack pipe (aka "Binky") and this was the result! We tried the same system as we did with Brooke - we had a little ceremony where we collected the last soldiers and put them in a Tupperware and said buh bye to them and shrieks of terror is what we got :) We may as well rename our household "Promises Rehab Center" But Listen up Lindsey, Paris and Britney - this isn't a check in for a few days and tell everyone you are cured - this is the long haul we are in it to win it here at the Munson Promise center. So how do you know when you have entered Binky Rehab? Well you will most likely experience the 12 step program as follows:

1. Kid starts to cry for his long lost binky as if he was jones'in for a hit. CHECK.

2. Kid continually gives us the "sign" for binky as big puddles of tears roll down his cheeks CHECK.

3. Kid continues to cry for 30-40 minutes in his crib looking for something to insert into his mouth. CHECK

4. Go in to comfort kid - kid falls asleep on your shoulder in 2.3 seconds - ahhh human comfort CHECK.

5. Lay kid down as he is now snoring on your shoulder and upon hitting the sheets immediately starts crying as his hands tremor in front of his mouth - clearly we are in full withdrawal at this moment if he could have fit my shoulder in his mouth he would have. CHECK.

6. Parents go to bed at the first sign of darkness - knowing it could be a long night. CHECK

7. Kid sleeps through the night (this isn't on the normal 12 step program but we will take it!) DOUBLE CHECK!

8. Kid wakes up crabby and wanting his binky CHECK.

9. Kid takes a 45 minute nap the next day instead of his normal 3 hour snooze CHECK.

10. Parents want to cave about 198 times during the day with a tired kid. CHECK

11. Kid tries to substitute every inanimate object in the house to insert into his mouth for comfort. CHECK.

12. Bed time-- start at step one and repeat. CHECK.

Actually its not that bad - that was how the first night and day went down - but actually we are at day three and not a peep at nap time and back to a three hour nap and only about 1 minute of crying and an extra rub on the back from mom at night. So could it possibly be taking effect? (I know jinxing myself as I even type this right?!)Well we can only hope! So Brady has been clean and sober for about 3 days now and its great because we finally got rid of that stupid piece of plastic that has been attached to his face for 18 months(total second kid syndrome -I would have been freaking out if my first had kept it that long - but whatever works right?) and now we are able to see this a lot more often which is truly worth the few days of work!

Holiday "wrap" up......

Ummm did anyone else's house get a lot smaller this month? Ours seems to have been invaded with plastic toys and balls! Chris and I were feeling the squeeze this week and got a little inspired from a trip to IKEA so we spent the better half of today cleaning out all the kids old toys - we made good headway and made room for all the fabulous new items they were blessed with! I know we are not alone as I scurried off to Target today to revel in the organizational bin isles and laughed when the shelves were nearly empty - okay good its not just us........

Another Christmas has come and went and we all survived, well barely. We all had been blessed with a cold at some point in the month long festivities. But all in all we had good times, enjoyed watching the kids revel in gifts and excitement, visited with good friends and family and gorged on good eats.

Merry Christmas Brooke and Brady!

Laying out cookies and carrots for the reindeer - Santa was a little ungrateful this year and hinted that we needed to step up our cookie selection for next year!

HE CAME!!!!!

I have no idea what all this stuff is but they are letting me rip up everything!!

Brooke helping her brother open the rest of his gifts - he somehow lost interest!

Does anyone else think George Costanza when they look at this picture?

A PINK fuzzy makeup kit - whats not to like?

This is video of Brooke opening the Big Santa gift she asked for, but better yet the favorite part of the video is randomly Brady just yawning like he is sooooo bored with all this nonsense.....And it gives a good picture of how he spent the better part of the holiday - balls in hand and just walking around with no purpose.......

Hope everyone had a great Holiday!