Something the Karate Kid Didn't Teach Us

As mentioned a few blogs back, Aidan started karate with Grandad. Since then, we have all started karate: Brad, Breanna, Me, AND Aidan and Grandad. It has been a blast! A fun family activity that is a great workout at the same time...who could ask for more? So it has been a couple months now. We are learning new skills and we are all yellow belts at this point. Very cool. Now we are beginning to spar. Basically, that means we are learning to fight. Honestly, it is a lot of fun. Last week, I got to spar against Brad. This is where I get to the part about what the Karate Kid DIDN'T teach us about karate. Apparently, it is very important for guys to wear a cup when participating in karate--even during regular class. So as much as I do honestly love my hubby (...you can see where I'm going with this...) I ACCIDENTALLY kicked him where his cup should have been. Oops! He was a good sport about it. He didn't cry in front of the whole class...even when his incredibly insensitive wife was laughing. So in this public forum, I wanted to apologize to my hubby ONE MORE TIME so that he knows I really mean it. I am sorry Brad for kicking you there. By the way, he did make a full recovery.

A Hole-y Day

For months now, Breanna has been asking to get her ears pierced. Daddy has consistantly said no, but Breanna is very persistant.

"Daddy, can I get my ears peered?" And, yes, she said peered. She likes earrings, she told him. After months of asking, Daddy finally gave in. This last Monday was the big day. Off to Wally World we went. Daddy held Breanna on his lap. Mommy snapped away at the camera with Grandma behind hers. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Here are Daddy and Bre, picking out the earrings. Still very excited!

Cleaning the earlobes. Still excited!

Checking the dots to make sure they are even. Still doing well.

Ow! She said. I was glad they did both ears at the same time.

So that hurt a little more than she was expecting. Glad Daddy was there!

Again...glad Daddy was there!

It didn't take long for the ouchie to wear off and the excitement to come back. Now Bre has become a professional at tucking her hair behind her ears so she can show off her new sparkly earrings. What a big girl!

I am still here. I haven't forgotten about my blog, even though I will admit I have been neglecting it. I am very excited to say, for those of you that read my blog to see my kids, I have good news. I finally got a new camera! Yeah! I haven't had much chance yet to learn all the cool stuff it can do, but I can at least take a simple picture. Here are a few of my fast growing sweetnesses...

Aren't they cute?

The Karate Kid Lives On

You know you loved it. We all did. It was the 80's. Daniel-son. Mr. Miaggi. The crane kick--you know you did it. Admit it. On the playground. I was there, too. Anyway, what's not to love? We still watch it at our house. Unless you are Renese, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's the Karate Kid movie. Well, the Karate Kid came back to life recently--in a little different form. He's a 6-year-old white kid from Colorado instead of a 15-year-old Italian kid from New Jersey. Aidan started karate lessons thanks to Grandad. He has talked about doing karate for a really long time, so I was pretty surprised when we went on the first night and he got his suit on and didn't want to participate at all. Great. It's already paid for. Get out there and do it. No, Mom. Fine. Grandad did it. Sissy did it, even. Now Daddy's up there. There goes Mommy, too. No Aidan. I don't want to push too hard. Fast forward to night #2 of karate. He's out there on the floor doing the kicks, punches, stances, and answering questions--with Mommy and Sissy. Now all 3 of us have our white belts. I'm serious. It's fun. Now he goes twice a week and loves it! However, he does have a small reservation about his instructors: he doesn't think they know how to do the kick from, you guessed it, the Karate Kid. I told you we still watch that movie.

When I Grow Up...

Breanna is a little singer. In fact, as I write this she is sitting with the headphones on singing kid songs. She also loves to help cook. She likes to sit on the counter and pour ingredients and stir. It only made sense, then, when she told us a couple days ago that she was going to be a singer-chef at church, specifically. This girl knows what she wants. When I was her age, I wanted to be a nurse. The only problem was that I didn't like needles, and I still don't. Obviously, that didn't work out. That's okay. I really do love being a Christian mommy, a business owner, volunteer (at church, Aidan's school, and La Leche League), wife, friend and painter. I think my time is pretty well filled. She can do what she wants. This is such an amazing country. That really can happen, provided the Lord doesn't return before she gets grown up. She did inform me the other day that she asked God to come into her tummy now. I think she did that so she could have communion at church. We're still working on that one. Precious are these memories.

3 weeks and counting

It has officially been 3 weeks since Breanna quit nursing. It only took 2 of those weeks for her to quit asking for it. I'm really proud of her. And she only cried to sleep in my arms 2 times. That was terrible. I just kept trying to not think, "All she wants is to nurse just a little bit. I could nurse her for just 2 seconds..." It was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Seriously. She's my baby. She does keep telling me that she loves the nini's, though. And she does still come snuggle next to them and say, "My nini's." I don't tell her that Daddy is glad to claim them as his now...Once upon a time, they were mine. Another cute thing Breanna has been doing that I just now realized has been happening since she weaned is that she keeps telling me she loves me--about 50 times a day...literally. I might be downstairs and I will hear a little voice holler down, "I love you, Mommy!" I might be going to the bathroom (with the door closed for 10 seconds of privacy) and I hear, "I love you, Mommy!" through the crack underneath the door. It's all the time. I have to admit that it is just precious and I really do enjoy it. It's just funny. I guess all those billions of times when she was nursing, and she would look up into my eyes and smile that milky grin at me, it was her way of saying just that, "I love you, Mommy!" She is such a big girl now. In just a few short months she'll be 4-years-old. She is so into girly things now, too. This girl LOVES nail polish. The paints hers every day and mine at least once a week and the grandma's as much as possible, too. Now it is time again to get re-fitted for bras, but as I like to say, that's a blog for another day. For now, I am focusing on a new stage with my precious baby girl who is now a big girl.

I Can't Get No Satifizacation

One of my pet peaves is being forced to eat food after the point of being full (aka "cleaning your plate). It goes back to the breastfeeding thing, I'm sure. B-fed babies eat until they are full, then they stop. You can't force them to continue nursing when they are done. It's just how it works. They learn to listen to their body and what it is telling them. I love Aidan-isms and Breanna-isms. This pet peave and this week's Aidan-ism converge at the dinner table. I often ask Aidan if he is satisfied or if he is just eating because it tastes yummy. So here is the convergence: satifized. Translation: Mom, I am satisfied, so I'm done stuffing my face because it tastes good. Satifized. I just thought it was so cute. As he is learning so much, his Aidan-isms are becoming fewer and farther between. What fun they are!