Braeden's Current 'Know How's'

My little baby is not a baby anymore. He's got a mouth full of TEETH now! Where did they come from?! No more 4 on top and 2 on bottom! It is hard to realize this some days. He doesn't need me to help him as much. His new thing are cars and trucks. This is all he wants to play with. He has an array of toys, but these are the ones he gets out of his toy box several times a day, everyday. He lines them all up in a row, moves them, then lines them up again. Right now, I am looking them all scattered around the living room. He thinks anything with wheels is a car. Even though I try and correct him that it is a tractor, or a bus, or a train, or a truck. He can only say car right now, so I believe this is why he thinks that. :)

He's done some really cute things and wanted to share. The other night, he was sitting on his daddy's lap. He pulled up Rob's shirt, pointed at his tummy, and said, "BABY"!!!! It was so hysterical, we both laughed so hard. Which of course made Braeden keep doing it. LOL Honestly, not sure where he got this.

I taught him the word 'hot'. So, he knows that if his food is hot, we needs to blow on it first. He knows the stove is hot, the outdoor grill is hot, and whatever else. Anyways, we were over at Linda's a while ago. I was watering her dying flowers and pulling weeds. Braeden came out bare foot. He said, "HOT!" And, started blowing on the grass. HOW FUNNY !!

Mimi and I have taught him his body parts. However, he still thinks that when I ask him where his elbow is, he goes and runs to get his Elmo doll. Sweet. Rob, has taught him where his wiener is. So, that is our funny part that we all laugh at!

These are the words he is saying on a daily basis: hi, bye, bubble, car, juice (slurred), mamma, da da, hot, car, bath (baaaa), circle (gircle), liiii (light),baby, doggy (goggy), kitty, bottle, choo choo, uh-oh, bob (as in Spongebob) and now, heyyyy (in a deep voice), SO cute! The "Oh God", has turned into "Oh Shit!" The #1 is 'EHHHHH, EHHHH, EHHHH, EHHHHH!' with him pointing at something and you have to figure out what he wants. There are more, just can't think of them all.

He will put things in the trash if you ask him to, which is a nice help. He will also do a jig on the table for you, especially if you tell him to get down. Rob reminds me that he has MY personality! ha ha! I have to agree. He still thinks that the dog water bowl is a mini bath tub. I bought him some play-do. He loves it. He wants me to make 'gircles' out of it. Seems I am getting it out, putting it away and cleaning up more than he plays with it. LOL! He also loves to 'sort' through your clothes. He thinks that this goes here, this goes there, and on and on. He'll do this for an hour.

I love this child like I have never loved before. He brings me smiles everyday. He also gives me headaches, frustration, and tears of joy. He's very affectionate. At night and at nap time, after he's done with his milk, he puts both of his arms around my neck and we go to sleep. This is every night. How could you not love this?

I love you, Braeden Chase!

Love, Mommy

VEGAS, here we come!

Rob and I had a little 3 night get-a-way to Vegas last week. It was much needed for the adult time, but we missed Braeden terribly. While we were there, we decided we are not leaving him alone over night for a long time. He stayed with his Grammy and Meemaw (Rob's Godmother). They said he wasn't that good.:( Which he loves it over at his Grammy's house, so we figured that he just missed us and was just as miserable as we were with missing him). Bless his heart.

We stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club. Rob is a VIP cardholder and we got to stay there for super cheap, but had to do a timeshare tour. No problem, just a couple of hours of our time.

This flight is 5 hours for us. For about 2 hours of the flight, there was a HUGE storm that was over the Midwest, in particular MO and KS. The storm with lightening was beautiful! The pilot actually announced it and wanted everyone on the 'right side' to experience what he saw. This picture does not do it any justice of what it really was like. How fast can cameras take pictures, right?


The first full day, we hung out at the pool/pool bar for 7 hours and had a great time talking to strangers. Since I have no adults really to talk to during the day, I was willing to talk to anyone!


That night, after so many choices to pick from, we decided to go to LeReve at the Wynn Hotel. It was an acrobat water show. It was wonderful!!! I actually tried to video clip some of the show, but got caught (go figure) and lazered by the staff....oops!



The last night, the one we were looking forward to the most, we met 2 of my brothers and their wives out at Margaritaville on the strip. I had not met them (my sister- in-laws) yet...LOVED THEM BOTH! I hadn't seen Kevin since 2001 and don't even remember the last time I had seen Matt. Matt and Rob were on the swim team together in high school (which is how we met). So, it was neat seeing them together again after such a long time.

I have to say, it was, and still is, a very humbling and surreal time for me. I am very proud of them both. It had been too long, and am glad and grateful we have re-established a relationship after too many years. It saddens me that so much time has passed and I have missed out on everything they (the whole family) have done and experienced. And, that they have missed out on my life. I tried to explain this at dinner, before they all stopped me. I am trying hard not to look/ponder of the past and at what has happened, but it is hard, and I am still struggling. I am human.

Divorce is difficult. Divorce is traumatic. The children are so innocent. The children are the ones who suffer. I don't want to suffer anymore. Unless you have experienced it, you truly don't understand it. I am 32 years old and this happened when I was a baby, and am still effected. I think I will always be. It has made me the person who I am today. On a good note, I have realized (especially after having Braeden) that life is just too short. I can't control or change the past. I can not judge. I can only love and look forward to the future. I do not want to regret anything anymore. Family means everything to me; divorced parents or not. This is my family, too. These are my siblings. And I am proud to be their big sister. I am pleased that they still accept me for all my short-comings over the years.

Rob mentioned several times to me that he noticed the 'special bond' Kevin and I(still) had. That was cool and made me smile that he recognized that. I still feel that bond. He was my best buddy. We were inseparable when we were in Indy and had so much fun together. I have alot of good memories when I lived with my dad and step-mom....besides being grounded most of the time because of my grades-ha ha!

We had a great time! I hope they had a good of a time as we did! I was sad to see them leave, and wanted to cry, but totally understand with kiddos.:) This night was worth the trip to Vegas 100% and can't wait until we reunite again and Braeden can meet his (hot)aunts, uncles, and cousins! I sure wish we all lived closer vs. scattered across the US.

Here are some pics of this wonderful night! THANK YOU again for taking out the time and driving to meet us. It meant the world to me. I LOVE YOU ALL! *tears*









*Alana*

More Summer Time Fun !

It's been a while since I have blogged. Thought I would catch up! We took Braeden to Kings Dominion Theme and Water Park for our friends' birthday. We had been wondering if he was too young to ride any rides, but decided to bring him and we are so glad we did-He had a blast!! He rode his first ride! Mommy needs to realize that he is not a baby anymore and can do more things. Notice his hand on the back of the car in the one picture. Don't you think he needs a sister sitting next to him?



Our friends had a Crab Fest for raising money towards Breast Cancer. What a great idea! Although, I am not a fan of picking out the meat of blue crabs, the shrimp was good! Here are a couple of pics from this day. My mother in law, Linda, and Mimi.




Rob and I bought the country tickets. We went to Rascal Flatts/Darius Rucker, and Kenny Chesney. They were alot of fun. These are the only ones we were able to go to-sold the rest. Rob went to another Phish concert with his buddy Justin in MD. We have decided we are too old for concerts. So, it will be a while before we go to another one. Well, we have Jimmy Buffett this weekend...but after that...

*Alana*

June 25th, RIP Michael Jackson, King of Pop and Farrah Fawcett

Oh man, what a shock the world was in this day. I know I was. These 2 icons are a part of my childhood. Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' album was my very first. I had Michael's posters throughout my bedroom, along with the doll. My sister had Elvis. :) I guess time will tell to see if my mom kept all of these items after we moved out of the house...I hope she did!

He will never be forgotten. I will never forget where I was when I heard the news. Linda, Braeden and I were waiting for Rob to meet us at Tony's Pizza for dinner. Rob sat down and said that he heard on the radio TMZ confirmed he died of cardiac arrest, 50 years old. I chuckled and said, 'WHAT?' I still can't believe he is gone. So sad.

I have kept the 'People' magazine for Braeden to have one day. Once he gets older, we will be making sure that he hears all of his music and pray he enjoys it as much as his mother did.

Farrah Fawcett was in a movie 'Small Sacrifices' when I was in middle/high school. We taped it from the TV movie. I am not exaggerating when I say I have watched this movie 75 times. It was a great movie! I would like to one day read the book, too.


RIP, Michael and Farrah...
*Alana*

Summer Time!!

July has been pretty uneventful-and it's only half way through! Our friends Matt and Xenia from Chicago came for a visit. Matt is a friend of Rob's (and my step-brother, Matt) from high school. He is the one who contacted Rob letting him know I was looking for him, via myspace...we can never be thankful enough for that. Matt was one of our groomsmen in our wedding, and then Rob was one in his wedding in Cleveland, OH (a super FUN wedding!). We adore them!

Friday night, we had a bbq. Our friends Matt and Jess came over, and our neighbor. It was alot of fun! Saturday, July 4th, we contemplated going to DC or hanging around here. We really wanted to take them since they were here and all. However, it is a big, exhausting day spending down in DC on the 4th with a million people. We went last year and was down there all day, lots of walking, and sweating, yuck! About 5:30 we headed down there. Arista watched Braeden and we didn't run into any traffic, which was unbelievable! We sat at the mall, and enjoyed the amazing fireworks! On the way back, we got a hot dog-a must! On Sunday, we took them to Tim's River Shore, a great seafood shack on the Potomac. We all had shrimp, crab legs, and hush puppies! Here are some pics from the weekend.

Rob and I got Braeden this pool. I set it up. He has been in it several times, but the water is pretty cold. But, he loves the water pouring down from the top!

Braeden and I met up with my friend, Stephanie (who lives here now and I actually worked with her for several years in KS, isn't that crazy?). At her sub division, they have 3 beaches. She took us there with her 3 kids and Braeden had a blast playing in the sand and in the water. Last year, we had this blow up boat and I felt very comfortable with him in it. This year, he wants nothing to do with it! ugh! He scares me with wanting to be independent! He's too small still! :)



So, I bought some (3) books to help me teach/deal with Braeden's terrible twos. He's pretty good overall, but we don't want him to be 'that child.' I have learned some easy tips that I am putting to test right now.

Here are a few pics of Braeden at a local pool with a very fun baby pool with a slide! This was his first time going down one in the pool. He LOVED it! And, couldn't get him to anything but the slide.




So, I come home from the pool, to find a few small pieces of foil and crumbs on the floor. It took me a few minutes to realize what this was. Marley at a whole loaf of home-made bread ....along with the foil that was in it! UGH! That's gonna hurt coming out!

We went out to dinner with Linda. She has been spending day and night at the hospital with her sisters for the last 2.5 weeks. One of their sisters have been in ICU. They are not sure what is wrong with her, still. The Dr.s have run every test possible and they all come back negative. One day, she just started getting confused and is now (and has been) talking 'crazy talk' with cussing, and like a 3-4 year old. Very concerning. So, we haven't seen much of her. It was a good time and he loves his Grammy.


The tank hood is coming along very well! Rob and our neighbor got this all done in one day, not bad! We are still very anxious to get it done! With our busy schedule, we are hoping it will be complete and ready for the sand and water next month.

Lastly, we got our trips booked to VA Beach, Vegas, and Jamaica! Whoo hoo!

*Alana*

Father's Day

This was Rob's 2nd Father's Day. I know this has to be a bitter-sweet day for him, with him not having his dad, yet being a dad now. I had a 'brilliant' moment one day in February and started researching portrait artists. I wanted a portrait of Rob, Ron, and Braeden. I called this lady, Lisa and we talked about what I had envisioned. She thought this was a great idea and that she would like to meet.

So, I drove to meet her and brought her some pictures. After contacting 3 of Linda's sisters about getting Ron's pictures (he was not a fan of getting his picture taken), I finally got them and she worked with what I could get. I think she did an excellent job! This will be passed down to Braeden and his kids.

It was extremely hard not to tell or show Rob before, but I am so proud of myself-I didn't! I really CAN wait! So, on the morning of Father's Day, I made Rob a big breakfast, and brought up his framed portrait. He was shocked and was pretty speechless. It is hanging by our front door.

I just realized that I didn't get a picture of Rob and Braeden on this day. Darn it! I'm still learning!

*Alana*

First Family trip home

4:30 am came too quickly last week when we went to my hometown, the first time for Rob and Braeden. Rob had never been to a small town before. Boy, was he in for a sup rise! The smallest town he had been in, was the town (city I call it) of 20,000+ people where we met. This was 2,000 people. Surprisingly, Rob had a very good time. We stayed with my mom and Kenny.

Braeden had grown alot since the last visit, one year ago. Last year, he was crawling, barely standing. Now, he's talking, climbing, running, has a mind of his own to say the least. Oh yes, and he has reached the 'terrible twos' early. So, it was an adjustment for them to get used to his biting, kicking, slapping, and temper tantrums! Fun was had by all!

Rob drove to St. Louis a few hours away to meet up with an old friend to go to a concert. He stayed a couple of days. He had a good time!




And, we just hung out with my mom and Kenny. I made them a recipe that I got from one of my best friends years ago. It was nice to cook something for my mom and Kenny. Kenny does all the cooking and they had never had this. They loved it!

One of my friends, Christy, drove to meet us and brought her two girls. I hadn't seen her in 3 years! I have alot of respect for this friend for many reasons. She has a heart of gold and is a wonderful mother, aunt, and friend. Thanks for meeting us, Christy! I love you!




I drove Rob around the 'big' town that I grew up in. It took about 10 minutes to show him where I lived, went to school, and where my Grandparents rest. I put flowers on their grave. I sure do miss them and wish they could meet my baby boy. I HAD to go and see my old neighbor, Becky, her new husband, 2 kids and new grandbaby. Becky was my second mom. Ever since they moved in across the street, I was over at their house more than my own. They adopted me. ha ha! I love this family so much and have so many great memories with them!




Then, one night we drove to meet some more of my friends who could make it. Thanks everyone for coming! It was great to see you! Here is one of my old co-worker, James. Braeden loves him! Wendy, Angela, Shelli-all in my wedding. And, Elizabeth.





Braeden was an angel on both flights, thank you God, and thank you Motrin! LOL!

*Alana*