Yesterday was a parenting day I hope not to remember. Does anyone else ever have one of those? I think both kiddos hashed out in the middle of night that the next day (yesterday) it would be fun to see if they can make momma loose it. Well...it worked. The climax of it was when me, the kiddos, my friend Emily and her kiddos (her husband is a youth pastor also, so we get together lots of Wednesday nights) were eating out. Brod reached over to my plate, slipped and fell into my soup bowel (no worries, I was so busy playing momma my soup was cold by this time, so no burns took place! phew!) and soup drenched my plate, slid down my clothes and of course splattered all over B. Then later in the dinner while holding Aubrie I discover her hair caked in Chicken Tortilla Soup. Really!? All that being said, Emily quickly said she would bring cake over to my house and us exhausted mommas would eat it while the kiddos played. Yes please! :)

I share this all to say how faithful God is. I know there is some established, older momma out there saying, "Oh honey, you'll miss these days soon enough." You know what? I just don't think I will ever long to go to bed covered in snot, boogers, applesauce, soup and coffee. What got me through yesterday was clinging to the verse, "The joy of the Lord is my strength". And oh man was He ever :) "He gives rest to the weary". Let me tell you how great I slept last night :) I am thankful for yesterday though and this is why. I'm thankful that the Lord has blessed me to be able to have two crazy kids that on some day bug me because it means I have children, my home is full. I'm thankful because it humbles me beyond words. So often I feel I may hold my head a little extra high thinking, "Wow, I really have this mom thing figured out. I should write a book" HA! Well after yesterday I'm back at my Savior's feet begging Him for wisdom and realizing I will never have this figured out. I'm thankful because it makes me remember how I need good girlfriends in my life to be able to vent to on days like yesterday (Thanks Emily!) and most importantly it reminds me ever so more of how crucial my relationship with Jesus is. Just knowing His constant presence and constant love was near, I was able to make it. 

 Today was a NEW day! I was able to get a workout in before anyone in the house was up, had such a great time in the Word and the kids have been smiles :) To top it off, I have a date with a hot honey in 45 minutes :)

 

 

The sweet laugh for today and a memory I hope to never forget is above. Brody just got out of a bath and yes, is naked. He grabbed Aubrie's doll and thought she was probably hungry. So my naked boy is breastfeeding Aubrie's doll. Is this just the greatest thing!? He then burped her and tried rocking her to sleep. I just love him!

So the flu chose to attack the youngest and smallest of the Kaelber crew! Life just isn't fair! It struck on Wednesday afternoon and didn't leave fully till Saturday. It brought a fever from 100-103 degrees, vomiting anything we placed in her mouth and just a sad, sad little girl :( Did I mention she was also diagnosed with a double ear infection also? Life was a little stressful last week to say the least. What was most frustrating and often times I found myself saying, "Really Lord", is my sweet little girl who is breastfed, eats only homemade pureed foods and doesn't go to daycare still gets sick. Just goes to show we can't protect them from everything.

 On another note. Both kiddos had their Well Child Check Ups. Aubs weighs in at 16lbs 8oz, placing her smack in the 50% for weight and 85% for height!

The dude a lude is 25lbs, placing him in the 25% for weight! (I'm a terrible mother because I can't remember his height!) Our kids a growing super quick.

On one more side note, a prayer request. Some friends of ours are 29 weeks pregnant with their first baby. Lastweek she (Maddie) began contracting and was in active labor. She came to my hospital where we quickly shipped her to Tulsa where she remains now. Praise Jesus she has not delivered yet and they were able to stop her contractions. We are asking the Lord for a miracle and hope you will join us also! Pray either that baby stays in her sweet belly or if the baby is born that it (they are being surprised not knowing if a boy or girl!) will be perfect and well developed. Thanks :)

 After 2 1/2 days of putting in everything we had, we decided B wasn't ready to be potty trained. He really showed absolutely no interest in what we were trying to teach him. Yes, the M&M's were super great but in nothing was sinking in. We'll try again in a month or so. On the bright side I was able so snap some super cute pics of training :) Mike and Brod kinda just set up camp in the bathroom. What would we do without the I Pad? I'm not sure who had more fun watching movies :)

 The best of buds, really they are :) Aubrie will put up with every bit of abuse (I mean love) that Brody gives her. The girl will even allow herself to be steamed rolled on the ground (B rolling over her) while giggling. If anyone else were to do that, it would be no bueno! In fact, she adores B so much that often times Mike and I find ourselves telling Brod to go and play with her if we can't get her to stop crying! The minute Brody gets to her, the tears stop :)

 She loves sitting in her highchair while meals are being made :)

The picture below is after B finished breakfast today. Somehow the Nutella exploded all over his face :)

Brod slipped on my house shoes. He really did do a great job at walking around the house in them ;)

Mike and I are going through another book by our very favorite "parenting heroes", Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo. We have read lots of their book and find so much wisdom from the words they write. In Growing Kids God's Way I recently read this little jewel:

 "We have an Owner, Jesus Christ. To Him we are absolutely precious. We are so precious that He left the splendor of heaven to come to earth to die for us (Philippians 2:6-8). It was because "God so loved the world..." (John 3:16) that set a value on mankind. Therefore, we do not direct our conduct toward others based on how valuable they are so us but on how beloved they are to God. Our kindness is a gesture we make on His behalf. Our children need to grasp that reality."

We sure do have our work cut out! "Oh Lord let us be parents that reflect these values to our children because they see them lived out in us!" Goodness, I didn't realize being parents would be so convicting and make me look inside my heart so much!

 My big helper hard at work! :) He LOVES doing what he sees Mike and I doing.

 I was doing 100 things at once this morning. I set out a bowel for Brody's oatmeal and got out Aubrie's rice cereal and left the kitchen for a quick minute. When I returned Brody had poured himself a LARGE bowl of rice cereal (Aubrie's remember) and was eating it dry with a spoon he grabbed from the drawer. HA! He told me it was "Yummy", I don't believe him :) I actually was pretty impressed that he didn't make much of a mess pouring the rice into his bowl.

This is a BIG week for the boy! Thursday we begin the potty training adventure! Last night we went out and bought Thomas and Cars big boy undies along with lots of "reward" treats and drinks! For some reason he can't get over that his undies don't go on his head though, hmmmmm.....this should be interesting ;)

When I don't think Aubrie can get any cuter.....she does! :) It will be nice to only have one kiddo in diapers. Sweet, sweet chicha!

6 months

Sorry, there was no 5 month update. Aubrie did turn 5 months. I guess there just wasn't too much to jot down. Rest assured however, there is a 6 month update! :)

•  Not one but TWO teeth have popped through those tiny gums on the bottom!
• Rolled over, finally, the very last day of being 5 months ;)
• Not only is she eating rice cereal but also carrots and squash
• Size 3 diapers
• 6-9 month clothes
• Such a thumb sucker! We've tried to break it but it really is pretty cute. She does it mostly when she's tired and it's been the sign of her saying, "Someone please put me down for a nap!"
• HATES, HATES, HATES being alone! The girl sure does turn on the tears the second we leave the room. Oh my!
• Becoming more of a fan of tummy time. In fact the last 2 days we've found her sleeping on her tummy.
• She continues to have such loving eyes for her big brother.
• 3 naps during the day. Two 2 hour naps and one 30 minute in the evening. Sleeps from 8pm - 8am. Doing so much better sleeping through the night :)

They just really do have so much fun together! For some reason Brody really likes to act as if he is eating her fingers. Maybe because we are saying we just want to "eat you up" to Aubrie often?? ;)

 Brody has really become such a little man lately! We find ourselves really truly having conversations with him. He is a ham and a half! Always wanting to be chased and jumping all over the house, he's crazy! :) We've been seriously thinking about potty training him. It may be a bit tough but he just continues to have some wicked diaper rash that I'm ready to end. So....lets see. I got a book on it and we'll see what happens.

My hot love! He was offered to teach a youth ministry class at the college this semester and today was his very first day as Professor Mike :) He's been busy making teaching plans, project assignments and putting together a syllabus. He's going to do great and we are so proud of him :)

Happy Birthday Brody!

Our sweet boy has turned! What!? Really!? This truly doesn't make any sense on how 2 years have gone by already! Even in the disbelief (and through some tears) we had a blast celebrating our crazy toddler :)

Mike and I did most of the decorating after B went to sleep the night before so he could be surprised when he woke up. Oh boy! He walked into the living room, saw the balloons and ribbon hanging from the ceiling and lit up smiling. He was SOOOO happy that McQueen was everywhere :)

 Because Brody loves the movie Cars we decided to throw a Lightning McQueen party with all his tiny friends who conveniently happen to be our friends kiddos ;) Love how that happens! And really anytime I have an excuse to entertain, decorate and host I'm all over it. So we squeezed everyone into our home and had a blast. We had everyone over for lunch and served Pioneer Woman's Pulled Pork Sandwiches, baked beans, chips, veggies/dip, fruit, chicken nuggets (for the kiddos) puppy chow (future note to self: don't serve anything with peanut butter to kids who have peanut allergies, eyeyiyi!) and chocolate covered pretzels. Super yummy and everyone survived! :) (I only joke because we all are laughing now)

 Everyone wore stickers that said, "Brody's 2nd Birthday" and truly my heart melted EVERY time I saw sweet Aubs sporting her sticker as she supported her big brother. Oh the cuteness!

 

 I love this quad of friends :) Graham and Adele are siblings and are the same age as Brody and Aubrie. So it makes for some really great friends because everyone is the same age :)

 A friend from work made his cake again this year and I have to say it was a huge hit! How cool!

 Right after we got done singing Happy Birthday, Graham dashed in and swiped McQueen off the cake all while Mike didn't drop it. Pretty talented.

 While opening presents I thought I would just mention to B how nice it would be if he would give his buddies a hug thank you after opening their gift. Low and behold he actually did it! :) This is Brody's friend Carson above with his mom Heidi. Golly, talk about 2 sweet boys! And to think Brody was way super hyped up on sugar and he still obeyed!

 The space in the house worked out great. We kept Brody's room well supplied with toys and so everyone was able to space out between the kitchen, living room and B's room. We didn't have games planned just a lazy, laid back New Years Day party of kids running all over and "grown ups" having fun together.

 Sweets was so tired by this picture and Brod's sugar high was just beginning to end. Little to say both were down for a nap within 20 minutes after this picture :)

This is Anaya who is also Brod's number one interest in his life! He is ALWAYS talking about her and wondering where she is and if he will be able to play with her. He kinda squeals when he sees her :) They adore each other. 

We had such a blast and I think Brody felt well celebrated :) Happy birthday sweet boy! We love you so much and praise Jesus everyday that we get to be your parents!

Christmas

Today is Brody's birthday and I really do want to post his bday part pictures but I may not be able to sleep knowing the blog is out of order. So...tonight is Christmas pictures and then maybe tomorrow will be B's party pictures :)

 Does Christmas just get more fun each year? I love expanding our family and letting B and A add to our traditions! We did brave letting Brody help us frost sugar cookies. He lasted one cookie because he just couldn't understand why he couldn't eat every cookie he touched :) He had so much fun though and what a mess!

 Really!? This boy is just so stinking cute as he hold his prized decorated cookie :) We did let him eat it after this picture.

 Finally Christmas Eve came! Don't you just love the kid's jammies?! Each year we've started that the kids will get knew jammies on Christmas Eve.

 I really do love expanding this family every year :)

 Setting out cookies, milk and carrots for Santa! Brod really wasn't too much of a fan of walking away from this plate of goodies :)

 Christmas morning! Aubrie really loved the wrapping paper while Brody really loved the boxes, HA!

 Brody did get a bit overwhelmed after the first 2 presents. He was sick of opening more and just wanted to play with what he had already opened.

Such a sweet Christmas girl! This was the outfit I had planned for her for the day. Well she pooped through it minutes after this picture :) Christmas afternoon we traveled to Oklahoma City to see Curt, Sarah the cousins and Gma and Gpa Kaelber.

We had a a great time celebrating Jesus' birthday!