Summer... Summer... Summer Time

Who doesn't love summer time? Well it's fabulous for kids and adults alike (now only if I could indulge in a tasty cocktail at the same time? There is always next summer). Yesterday we had a fabulous summer day, weather that was in the mid 70s and a bright sunny sky!

After spending the morning at the gym (which means Big B gets to run around with kids while I work out) he came home and completely passed out for his 3 hour nap!

When he woke up we lathered up in sunblock. I just put it all over this head... I introduce to you Braden's sunscreen Mohawk. All the while enjoying a freezie pop!

Then the real fun began... the three kids next door came over (Caitlin - 8, Kyle - 6, Ryan - 4). The other mom (Nicci) rigged her hose to come over the fence and we had a little sprinkler party!Kyle chasing Braden with the watering can and getting him with the water... Braden loved it!
Braden and Ryan sharing watering techniques... really they were just getting each other!

Ryan and Braden take five. What is better in the summer than a break from water games, with popcorn and red kool-aid that leaves a mustache! :)

The Mom Tan and other Playground thoughts

This is the first summer I have discovered something I am calling "The Mom Tan". It's my first summer season in my 30s, so maybe it's part of my getting older, or simply less willing to flaunt my 6 month pregnant belly. Actually, the belly isn't bad, it's my thighs... what happened to them? (Shudder!)

The Mom Tan is one that reminds of when I was 13 years old, and a caddy at Ravisloe Country Club. I had awful tan lines on my legs from my shorts (and the whitest feet ever from my socks) but the tannest legs on record (my arms too). However, my tummy, the tops of my legs and my chest... white as the dead of winter. While enjoying this fabulous weather we've had lately I've gotten some color... but I'm not wearing a bikini to the playground! So my tan lines are... a bit annoying. And I don't see how I'll be getting rid of them. Throw being PG in the mix and it's not like I can lay on my tummy to get the back of my legs while Braden naps... so my legs... from the top of the knee down, and only in the front... not cute. I just thought I would give some warning to others out there about The Mom Tan.

Other playground thoughts:

- We can send people to the moon, but for some reason the majority of playgrounds are covered with rock or bark. Why can't we come up with a better solution, something safe for the kids that is one solid piece and flat? Something that not every kid wants to pick up and throw around? It adds a lot more work for the parents to try and monitor this, it's just an evil temptation for the kids. Not to mention... not ideal for sandals or flip flops in the summer time (and wearing tennis shoes and socks... didn't you just read about the mom tan... cut me a break!).

- If your child(ren) are older, please come to the park... but please try and ask them not to do dangerous acrobats off of every apparatus. I actually like that Braden can learn by watching the older kids doing things, but I don't like when he's being shown how to flip over from the top of the slide. I can respect jumping from the swings, it's sort of a rite of passage. But some of this... geesh... I have enough of a daredevil on my hands!

- Lastly, to the Parks and Rec departments... please make sure you have place for parents to sit down. Most places are pretty good about this, but some have nothing, so I'm forced to put my larger than normal PG booty on a swing that is too low to the ground, which I then discover is a bit tougher for the already mentioned larger booty and belly to get up from.

Pony Rides

Last Sunday was the Fairhaven Festival in Bellingham. It started at 10am and I think we were there by 10:05, good thing too because I heard it got super crowded later in the day. We only stayed an hour or so, but it was a nice little outing. Braden got to ride on a pony and jump around one of those inflatable houses. And if you would like to know why Braden was wearing a PJ top... talk to my husband. I asked (nicely... I think) for him to change him, and for whatever reason he refused, trying to prove some point that Big B doesn't have to be dressed to impress at a local festival on a Sunday morning. We weren't even there five minutes and Braden scored a balloon and a lollipop!Could he look more un-enthusiastic? I swear he loved riding the ponies, we did it twice and it was all he could talk about the rest of the day (and some days this week too). But no matter what this was the look he kept on his face.

I'm just not that kind of girl...

Oh boy... that's right. Today I was cleaning up outside and putting the cover on the grill... when something jumped out at me! I squealed... and noticed it was a frog. (Insert major eebie geebies here). This frog was maybe an inch long, it was tiny. (Some research and I'm pretty sure it's a Pacific Tree Frog which is pictured left).
For whatever reason, I felt compelled to point it out to my dear son since he loves all things animals. Well Braden watched this little creature for nearly 30 minutes, and every time he jumped I squirmed. That's right, this one inch frog had me on edge. I kept Braden from touching him by telling him he didn't want to hurt him so he just needed to watch. But seriously... how am I going to make it the next few years as Braden is surely going to start capturing creepy crawlies and wanting to show me??? This is not the kind of thing I do so well with...

I feel like I should point out, the reason Braden stopped watching the frog is because we couldn't find him... after he went in to use the bathroom. I can't get it out of my head the the frog followed him inside, and am having visions of waking up to a jumping creepy creature in bed with me tonight. Blah... yuck. Sweet dreams to me.

No news... is good news

Last Friday, Braden and I took a day trip to Seattle to visit the Children's Hospital to follow up with his bradycardia/2:1 heart block issues. We had a full check out and another EKG... and when all was said and done, his condition remains the same. In this case, no change is good news. At his 3rd birthday, in 6 months (gulp... how fast that is coming, three years old, oh my), we will travel back to Seattle and have an ECHO (ultrasound of the heart) and a 24 hour holter monitor. Since Braden has no symptoms and physically speaking he appears to have great strength (and endless... I mean never. ending. energy) there is not any predictable cardiac danger. Long term, we take it as it goes, but if things continue to progress as they are now, with no changes he will have no limitations or medical interventions(pacemaker) or medications. As he becomes more active with things like swim classes, gymnastics, soccer (next spring) and such we just need to watch how he's responding as he pushes himself further physically.

So after the doctor we were in Seattle on a B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L day. We were going to hit up the zoo, but I decided it's better off a two adult kind of job. We instead stumbled into Seattle Center. There was a huge music festival going on, so we took a walk through that, ate some lunch and finished the day on some kiddie rides. Seattle Center is home to the Science Center, Children's Museum, the Space Needle, Fun Forest, a huge Park, and many other things. It reminded me of Navy Pier in Chicago, it's much different, but it's a similar concept. Braden was so happy and had a blast, he slept the whole way home and with the holiday traffic was about 2 1/2 hours. I enjoyed my day out with my little man, and was even happier that the visit to the doctor was a success! The Park at Seattle Center, we didn't get close enough (I was on a mission to find a gyro stand!) but I think that kids actually can run around the water here and play around. We parked right on the grass where we ate lunch (and the gyro was a disappointment... when will I learn to only get them when I'm in Chicago?)

A train of cars that rode around in circles... Braden rode these three times, and I'm not sure why but he called them "Zippy Cars".

The two of us on our "date" riding the carosel. There is no doubt that my son favors the Ramsey side in the looks department, but here I can finally see that he gets his eye color from me. It looks like his hair color too... but we all know that I get highlights so I can't really claim that!
Ok... when I saw this picture I thought I was looking 2 years into the future. Doesn't he look so grown up???
All fun days at the park with mom end with ice cream... in Braden's own words, "Ice Cream... Nummy, Nummy!"

Almost...

So here is a belly shot, I'm almost 24 weeks (and for Chad... that means 6 months). I have grown a lot the last few weeks, and we still have 16 weeks left! I was not good about taking pregnant pictures with Braden because I was (silly) and so concerned with my size. Even though I still tend to feel self conscious about it, I really regret not have those to look back on and have made a point to put that aside this time around.

Ever notice that Chad has only taken pictures of just my belly? It's like I'm the headless mother of his child(ren). Well this time I wanted a total shot and I quote "Chad... you should probably take my belly pic now since there is no guarantee I'll have make up on the rest of the weekend".

My kind of town...

CHICAGO. We're heading back as a family in July, but I've managed to book a solo trip at the end of June to go to my sister's bridal shower and my friend Staci's baby shower. Our July trip is so quick and jam packed I wasn't going to have really any time with my girlfriends and before I become a mother of two my husband generously offered to stay behind with Braden while I get this weekend away. THANK YOU CHAD!!! You rock!

Listen to the Teacher

The picture is dark because the lights weren't on yet, and once they were I couldn't get him to stay in one place for a photo op. Who could blame him, there was a lot of playing to be done!

Last week swim class started, this week it was a gymnastics class. Now, that is being a bit generous, it's a start up class where the kids get to run around and start to learn how to use some of the equipment, somersaults, stretching, dancing and jumping around. It's a great class, some structure, but not too much... good for the age group. The instructor made several comments about how big and strong our boy is (her exact words... "that kid is a bulldozer" and "no mistaking that this one is going to play football"). I have to tell you that Braden absolutely LOVED it... he was upset when it was time to leave.

This place is a 2 minute drive from our house, and also has a preschool that Braden can start in the fall, their curriculum mixes "academics" for 90 minutes and 45 minutes of "gym time". I think it will be a good fit for him since he's such a physical kid to have that outlet and activity. I am glad we're doing these classes, Braden is learning to "listen to the teacher", follow group instruction and of course the continued interaction with other kids... speaking of the other kids....

This class has about 5 or 6 kids (and 4 pregnant moms) and one of the other kids is named Braden... and his birthday is the day after ours! For me personally I also enjoyed the class because it was nice to talk to other moms, I'm already looking forward to next week.

One of these days...

My husband is going to take my camera away from me. I'm not really doing a good job of making my case of why I need a high tech camera and a few classes when I keep taking pictures of Braden like this... but he's just being a goofy kid and I can't resist. Yesterday I was sorting laundry and Big B learned how to put on (by himself) a pink maternity shirt of mine, he then proceeded to run throughout the house, giggling as he went.

A nice little Sunday

Yesterday we had some perfect weather here in the Northwest, 70s and sunny! We decided over breakfast that we'd venture out to the Greater Vancouver Zoo. It's about 35 minutes from where we live and we got there by 10am. Braden loved the zoo (although that feels a bit silly to say out loud... most kids love the zoo, right?). All around it was a nice little Sunday... see pictures (and a short video) for evidence!

Short video of Braden laughing at the "silly marmosets". He was very amused.

Look at my handsome men! The next few pictures are moments I captured them together... doing the same thing or with the same look on their faces.

Awe... aren't they cute here?

(Side note... seriously, I need a fancy camera and some photo lessons - more on this later, but it's a personal goal of mine, I don't need to be on the road to professional, but there is no reason why I can't take quality personal photos of our family!)
Ok... terrible picture right? I KNOW! I only put it here as part of the demonstration that Braden and I could not get good photos together... until the end... keep reading.

You see, he's not interested in taking this picture with me. But at least here you get a shot of the ever expanding Baby Girl and the Belly...

A little better... but Braden looks like he needs to use the bathroom... I look like the picture that should be in the dictionary next to "pear shape body", and again, the camera quality is poor.

At the end of our day we played at the Zoo Park for awhile. Braden and I enjoyed the swings together and I was quite impressed because Chad asked for the camera! These aren't professional shots, a bit hard to see in the shade and we aren't posed with huge grins, but we're having a moment and I love what he captured.

Time for Swim Class!

Last Thursday was our first day of Swim Class... we took a class in Squamish a few months ago, but it was time to get Big B back in the water and now we'll consistently take the classes from here on out. It's nice... the classes are at the gym we go to so I even got to work out first. And Braden and I can still do the swim classes when Baby Girl gets here because it's at the gym and they have the Kids Club there to watch her! :)

Braden LOVED the swim class and was excited when he got to demonstrate with the "teacher" (he kept calling for her... "teacher, teacher").

Now... I only wish I had a cute maternity suit... I look like a fuddy duddy (I will not share any full body shots of me in the suit, consider it a favor!)

It's happening NOW!

I meant to post about this last night... but I fell asleep at 8:15pm, I know, that's kind of ridiculous. Anyway... I have something really cool to share with you and it's happening right now!
Remember my friend Jessica that works for the Children's Hospital in Dallas? She has the blog, From the Red Balloon,
and today... they are making history! They are "twittering" from the operating room of a kidney transplant, and what makes it more touching... it's a father giving up his kidney for his young 3 year old son.
Even if you don't have a twitter account, you can follow the "tweets" from this page. I've checked it out this morning and it's more than just the updates on the transplant... lots of fun facts too!

Girly...

Most of my friends know I'm not a super girly girl... I am terrible when it comes to shopping or picking out clothes, etc...

Now with the impending arrival of Baby Girl Ramsey I need to take this more seriously... this little lady will have a personal sense of style... but I'm responsible for that - yikes! You think it would be easy since all the girl clothes are just so adorable!!! I've started looking around, but haven't had much luck because I'm completely overwhelmed. So many decisions... not just pants and shirt.... but skirt/dress/cardigans/shoes/hairbows/tights!!! Anyway, I haven't known where to start, but this weekend when Paul and Steph came to visit she brought up some girly clothes... and I was SO excited! :) So excited that I'd just thought I'd share Baby Girl's first itty bitty adorable clothes! I still can't believe I'm growing a little person that will wear these!

The Man Has Wheels...

Yesterday we treated our son to a purchase of The Big Wheel Tricycle. He's been coveting the neighbors (and if their garage is open he has tried to go in and take it!). He's still probably a good inch shy from being totally comfortable riding it... but he LOVES it. It's been raining all day and he has gone out to the garage to check on it at least four times this morning.

Parks... and more parks... the child is obsessed.

We had some fabulous weather the week before last and Big B and I spent a Friday touring several park areas just minutes from us in Ferndale. As most kids his age, he loves his time at the playground, and maybe his obsession is completely normal... because if I would let him play at the park non-stop, he would. In fact, Chad and I have discussed conducting an experiment to how long he will stay... would he be ready to leave after 3 hours? 5 hours?

Hovander Park, which is about 5 minutes from the house has some farm animals for the enjoyment of the kiddos... it worked on my little guy. I wasn't personally crazy about the roosters and chickens that were just roaming free... but I tried to play it cool. This is one of the turkeys... have you ever observed turkeys? They aren't that friendly, they huff and puff and stomp about just angry all the time.

Playground at Hovander Park

The Fragrance Garden... and see the lighthouse in the background. My son got scared about 1/2 way up... my pregnant self carried him up the rest of the way up (I managed to convince him it was ok by the time we were on the way down). As you can see, Braden was more interested pretending to breakdance that stand up for the picture.

Pioneer Park... a cute assortment of original log cabins. Next door is the best playground we've found for Braden yet.

A Trip to Seattle

I'm behind on my posts! Almost 2 weeks ago we took a day trip to Seattle to visit with Paul and Stephanie... and hit up the Public Market, the Seattle Aquarium and out for a Mexican dinner. Braden really enjoys Paul and Steph, they are great with him. It's so nice that they are just 90 minutes away now and we've seen them a lot... in fact they are coming up tomorrow to spend the weekend here.

Big B also loved the aquarium, he got to touch starfish, and stare at all the fish, otters and a huge octopus. Now, in my rankings of aquariums... Seattle's wasn't my favorite since it didn't have whales or dolphins. However, Braden didn't mind and had a blast. We'll be heading to Seattle again to visit the Seattle Center and the Zoo.

Steph and Braden ooohhing and aahhing

Paul and Big B sharing a moment

The big Octopus...

Hey... is Braden an Octopus now?

Touching the starfish... I took a pass, that sort of thing gives me the creeps!

Braden looking in awe at one of the large aquariums