Fall 2012

I realize I am delayed in my blog posting, Rob has been the first to point out! It’s been a busy fall! Brett played soccer and now is going to wrestling practice with Daddy. Bailey goes to dance class and still loves it! I’ve had physical therapy for my foot 2-3x a week and would admit had a rough first couple of months being pregnant! Harman baby #3 is coming this spring! I’m finally feeling a little better and walking more on my foot, just in time for winter. Hooray. Brett goes to Pre-K 5 days a week and I usually pick him up with 4 other kids in the stroller. I would say, we are known for our big quad stroller and the kids have become quite the welcoming crowd for the other parents at pick up:) They are such the talkative crew!

We are constantly working on ‘using our words’ and ‘talking nicely’. I was giving Brett some options of how he could ask for something. He responded ‘I could…I could say that.’

One day in the car, Brett told me he wanted to ‘break through God’s place and go to outer space in a rocket’ I said that sounded pretty cool and asked what he would say to God on the way. He said ‘I would say sorry for breaking a big hole, I’ll fix it when I come back up but I don’t have the tools right now.’ I told him God would probably appreciate that.

Brett and Bailey have been into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We were coming downstairs in the morning, Bailey leading the way. She said it was dark so I told her I would turn the light on when I got in there. She said, ‘Ninja Turtles don’t need light!’ Ok then. She also said at the doctor’s office, that ‘Ninja Turtles don’t need check-ups!’. I have learned that if I need help persuading her to do something, I just need to phrase it that ‘Sensei says’.

Brett was trying to get the kids to play TMNT with him and made reference to ‘Just me and my crew…ok mom, you’re in my crew. If the new baby’s a boy he can be a Ninja Turtle, but not if it’s a girl’.

After Brett’s first solo day of Pre-K, I asked him if he made any friends. He said, ‘yeah there was a kid wearing a Spiderman shirt, so I figure we’ll be friends’.

Brett was up early one morning. I told him I was going to take a shower, he said ‘Great wash off the stinkys and I’ll watch a show’. I said ‘no, but you can read a book on the Ipad’. He agreed and I went to the bathroom. When I came out, I could hear music and talking. I soon realized Brett discovered how to watch cartoon episodes on an Ipad app. I asked him how he did that. He replied simply without looking up, ‘PBS kids mom’.

Brett has been enjoying Pre-K, although it has been difficult to get him ready and out the door! One morning, I was rushing to get him dressed and I said he needed some socks…he said ‘I think you want to get them.’

Right before school started, we were in the car and Brett yelled, ‘MOM we need to go to Walgreens!’. I asked why? He said, ‘They just said come to Walgreens to get all your school supplies! Hurry!’ Marketing at its finest. He also loves Subway and every time he sees it, he yells ‘Subway…EAT FRESH!!’.

After watching the Olympics, Bailey put a necklace around my neck and said ‘Here’s your medal for being the Best Mommy!’

Was tucking Brett in for nap one day, and he said ‘I’m really glad I have a mommy who’s home all the time’.

The boys were at wrestling one night and Bailey and I were relaxing in the livingroom. She said, ‘I’m going to come sit with you, I need some love’.

Brett was playing with the other kids and I hear ‘Oh no, I don’t have THAT insurance!’ I have no idea where that came from.

When I was still on crutches I had to have some help with the kids. Our very tall friend Todd helped out. 2 months later Brett asked if Todd was coming over, because he was the best sandboxer.

Brett is hit or miss on naps these days. I should really feel lucky that he naps at all. I thought he was down one day but came down 90 min later and had a ton of questions about ‘boobs!’ I struggled to keep a straight face as I answered questions like…’can you swim with them?’ ‘do you take them off to shower?’, etc. Oh the curiosity of boys.

Heard Bailey in her room at 6am one morning. She was busting out with ‘I like to move it, move it!’ Then went to singing ‘We are young’. Girl is hilarious.

Another morning I asked Brett if he was ‘pooping’ because he was taking so long in the bathroom getting ready for school. He said ‘no I’m just showing off my body’ and I go in to see him flexing in the mirror.

The kids were a little hyper one day and I was not faring well with the whole morning sickness situation. I asked Brett to do something, I can’t remember what. He said ‘sure and maybe you could go get yourself some coffee’. Bless his little heart.

Before you think he’s all sunshine and rainbows (in the immortal words of the great Rocky Balboa)…when we were coming back from Bailey’s dance class, we had to stop because there was a family of geese trying to cross the road. Brett said ‘If I was driving, I would drive right over them!’ I thought that sounded bad, but then he clarified…’well if I was in a firetruck and going to an emergency, I wouldn’t have time to stop!’

We flew to Texas for Thanksgiving to visit Grandpa Tom and Mia Karen. Our first time to Houston! The kids were so excited to fly and actually did a great job traveling. They had a blast playing with their cousins and loved seeing the NASA Space Center. But their highlight really may have been the ‘Eggs and I’ diner that had chocolate pancakes and chocolate waffles! They have already asked when we can fly again.

Kids have discovered they can hear each other from their beds if they talk loud enough. So they have had nightly discussions before going to sleep. We heard one night Brett saying ‘Bailey! Why are you still awake?!’ She said ‘I like to be awake…all the time!’. To which Brett replied, ‘Be quiet!’

Bailey was playing a little rough with a stack of books, I asked her to play gently. She said ‘Thank you for reminding me to be nice to my books, I love it when you say that…and I LOVE it when you give me 3 treats!’ I had just let her have a snack, apparently she wanted more.

We were eating zucchini one night. Kids liked it and kept asking me to how to say it. After about 10x, Brett said ‘Oh I got it, Zoo-bikini!’

Brett – ‘I need to buy my own house so I can see my wife. Cause if I don’t see her I’ll miss her. I can’t stay at the fire station all the time’

Brett was preparing for Halloween and told me he needed to lift some weights so he had muscles so his Ironman costume would be hard like the real one.

Kids have both been really excited about a new sibling on the way. They were first divided, Bailey wanted a girl and Brett insisted it was a boy. After our last appointment, Bailey said she’s pretty sure it’s a boy now. Brett asks each week how big the baby is. Brett is set on us doing a gender reveal, like Uncle Phil and Auntie Kylie because, ‘we have to know what color the cake is! That’s how you find out what the baby is!’

Fall 2012

O-H-I-O

Caught her!

Telling the kids

Getting ready for baby!

Brett's 'walk' home.

Dinner entertainment