Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Lots of Change (Warning: Long Post)




I realize the majority, ok all, of my posts are about this kid. I can't help it, he's just too adorable! Tonight was bitter sweet for me. It was the first night that I have ever put Brady to bed without nursing him. I have kind of been wanting to stop nursing for a while but have been resistant because I did not want to deal with his tears. But after being bitten and drawing blood 2 nights in a row, I am DONE! I am surprised how well it went! Most nights when I try not to nurse him he pulls my hand up and cries until I give in, but lately has been losing interest at night so tonight he just had some milk from his cup and then we went on to do stories, songs and down for the night. He didn't even fake cry! Though I'm sure he will have some reaction in the next few days, especially in the morning, I am going to try my hardest to hold strong and hopefully we will be all done with nursing!

It has been a crazy month with lots of changes. At the beginning of August we moved to a different house, and although it is a lot smaller and I am having a real hard time finding space to put all of our stuff, it has been a really good move for us! It's a lot cheaper than our last house and it's only one level so Brady is free to roam as he pleases. And he LOVES it! He is so much happier here having room to run around and I am happier being able to let him go without worrying he will fall down the stairs all the time! It's been a really great change.

Also at the beginning of the month, I returned back to work. I work 3 days a week at the only clinic here in town which is pretty perfect. The only bad thing about it is that the days I work are Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, which kind of sucks. But I'll take it for now so I don't have to try to find sitters for shift work! I was a little nervous to go back after being away for a year and have lost a lot of my confidence I had before I left, but it is slowly coming back as I get back into the groove of things.

When I am gone, Brady goes to a dayhome. We were really lucky to have found the lady that we did. She is awesome and really interacts with the kids and does her best to make sure they eat and sleep well and play lots. There are 2 other little girls and another boy who just started with her so Brady has lots of friends to interact with. It was a really rocky start, Brady screamed the whole time he was there and refused to eat or sleep, and the dayhome lady almost quit on us. We decided we would give it one more week and if there was no change then we'd have to do something different, but thankfully after lots of prayers and his top tooth finally popping through things started to look up and he is really warming up to the dayhome. The past two days he hasn't even cried when I dropped him off, which is a HUGE improvement. I'm feeling really grateful that we found such a good dayhome. She really worries about him not eating, but he is a pretty picky eater so I tell her not to worry.

And as far as changes go, Brady continues to grow and change a ton every day. He is getting so big and so smart! He now tries to run everywhere and hates sitting in the grocery cart. He doesn't ever want me to hold his hand when we are walking around the stores anymore. He loves to climb all over the park and is starting to get real good at going down the slide sitting all by himself. The park is a pretty good workout for me chasing him up and down trying to make sure he doesn't just step off the edge at the top. He still hasn't developed his sense of height and the dangers of it. He is learning to climb onto the couch and tries to daily to lay on Ruby and give her hugs. He has been successful a few times. Brady is a very picky eater. He won't let me feed him anything that requires a utensil and if I try he has to hold a spoon too. He doesn't know how to use it yet though so he mostly just plays and ends up throwing everything on the floor. The only way I can get him to eat any vegetables is to give him those squeeze packs of pureed veggies and fruits. He loves them. He loves snacks. Most meals he ends up eating either a peanut butter or grilled cheese sandwich, or a toddler breakfast bar. It's starting to be exhausting to try and get him to eat and I feel like it's not getting us anywhere but I guess he won't be this picky forever!

Brady is getting real good at drinking out of an open cup. We practice everyday and he mostly has it figured out. The hardest part of it is trying to stop him from putting his hand in it and play with the contents. He loves to play with water. Bath time is still one of his favorites.

Brady is starting to talk all day long. He doesn't say real words yet but is starting to try and getting closer on some. But he babbles all day long. Lately he will take the monitor and turn the volume up and down and then put it up to his mouth and whisper into it like he is talking to someone. It is pretty cute! He also loves the telephone and banging the cupboard doors and dresser drawers. He is a true little boy!

Of course this post wouldn't be complete without some pictures so here you go!

He always has to be pushing the cart

Loves the phone


He loves limes! The only thing he would eat when we went out for Cody's birthday.

Playing with his dinner



Playing outside before bedtime

We took Brady to his first fair this past weekend and rode his first carnival ride. It was the berry-go-round. It was also the only ride they would let us go on the ride with him.

Cuddles with Daddy. He has been SUPER cuddly lately!

Always getting into trouble!


Thursday, July 4, 2013

1 Year Old (and 2 weeks!)




2 weeks ago my sweet little baby turned one! It was a bitter sweet weekend for me. I also had to go back to work the Monday after his birthday so to say I was a bit emotional would be an understatement haha. There were quite a few tears shed by me. But it was a lot of fun! We had a little birthday party for him with a few of his baby friends and had a really good time. He is growing up so fast! Here are a few things about Brady at 1 year old! (And then a huge picture overload!)


  • Finally sleeps all night for 11-12 hours! 
  • Started napping just once a day. Now he will nap for at least an hour instead of two 20 min naps! 
  • Still loves to be outside and go for walks. And LOVES his new trike he got for his birthday.
  • Really likes the swings and is starting to crawl around the rest of the park and test out the slides
  • Likes the spray park
  • Favourite foods are Raspberries, fruit/veggie squeezies, Grilled Cheese, Mac and Cheese, just cheese in general haha
  • Favourite snacks are Gerber puffs, arrowroot cookies, goldfish, teddy grahams and the occasional bite of ice cream
  • Favourite book is called "That's My Daddy" It's the only book that he will let me read to him all the way through every time we pull it out. 
  • Likes it when I take his finger and point to things and name them.
  • Can take a few steps on his own here and there but is not full on walking yet. He is getting close though! 
  • Does his scrunched up nose face all the time. He thinks its pretty funny!
  • Knows how to fake laugh and fake cough
  • Is always so happy and on the move. He is started to get to a point where he will sit and relax for a minute or two, but generally he is go, go, go!
I could say a million things about this little boy. I am totally in love with him and am enjoying every second I get to spend with him!

His party was Mickey Mouse themed

The last minute cake I made him to smash up. He HATED getting the icing on his hands!
His birthday shoes from Daddy

We survived my first day of work!


Playing in his graham box (I had no sand)

Homemade finger paints in the bathtub. (It was way too slippery!)

He's very musical

Snacks at the park

Hanging out at Walmart

Just so cute!

Mommy-son picnic lunch date at the park

Mini-Pete

Spaghetti night! 

Walking around on Canada Day

Watching the parade (It was lame)

Brady's scrunched-up nose face

YUM! Ice Cream!

Haha! I just love this picture!

Playing bucket head with Daddy

Peek-A-Boo!


Thursday, June 13, 2013

A Good Day For Good News!




Congratulations to Cody today for challenging and PASSING his first year parts apprentice exam! He was pretty nervous but we are happy to finally have that out of the way and under his belt! Time to plan for year 2!

Friday, April 19, 2013

10 Month Update



The last couple months have been pretty exciting and exhausting. We travelled home for Uncle Steve's wedding and had lots of fun. Brady had a hard time with the trip this time and when we got home he was sick with what I think was Roseola for a week at the same time that he was teething! It was a rough week. But now he is all better and back to his very active crazy self! Here are some things about Brady at 10 months!


  • Is crawling everywhere...and fast! 
  • Likes to climb up and on everything
  • Pulls himself up on whatever is available so he can stand, the coffee table, couch, the wall, baby gate, you name it he can use it to get up.
  • Can climb the stairs. I always have to be close by though to catch him when he decides he is done and just lets go and falls back! We still have to work on getting back down
  • Finally has one little tooth poking through! And has been much happier since! 
  • Loves grilled cheese sandwiches, raspberries, grapes, cheerios and breadsticks (especially garlic)
  • Doesn't really like spaghetti but will eat some macaroni and cheese
  • Is a huge momma's boy
  • HATES sleeping. We are currently pursuing sleep training because he doesn't know how to sleep without nursing (and also because I can't reach his mattress anymore since I had to move it down so he doesn't climb out! #shortgirlproblems)
  • Loves to be outside and go for walks, and does like the swings but we haven't put him in them since being at home because there is still too much snow!
  • Thinks the dog and cat are the funniest things ever
  • Likes to play in laundry baskets and rubbermaids
  • Loves swimming
  • Is afraid of the vacuum and bolts the other way crying anytime I turn it on. He's not a fan of anything that makes loud noise, my hair dryer included.
  • Always tries to kiss all the other kids and me but still refuses to kiss his dad! (must be the scratchy whiskers!)
  • Likes watching tv and looking at books 
  • Loves playing with remotes, phones, the ipad, and pulling on every cord, basically everything he is not supposed to play with
  • Has learned to scream when he wants something, not a trait I hope will carry on too much longer
  • Keeps me super busy all day running after him and carrying him away from the same things over and over again
I could probably go on and on! I sure love my little Brady boy!

One of his favourite toys is his music table

Getting so big!

With Uncle Steve at his wedding! Congrats again to you and Payton!

The Easter bunny came early at Grandma Struyk's house

"I'll get you, you wascally wabbit!" My child looks like Elmer Fudd...

Loving his grilled cheese for lunch

Best Friends!

Monday, March 4, 2013

Swim Lessons and Everything Else




Today was Brady's first swim lesson! It was lots of fun. We learned to blow some bubbles, sang songs and Brady went under the water for the first time! I have been a bit unsure of dunking him under the water but he loved it! He's definitely a little swimmer! 

We have been going swimming a lot lately. Every Tuesday and Thursday there are baby and me aquafit classes at the pool and I try to go as often as I can. It's fun because I can get a good workout and Brady gets to sit in a little fish boat and float around in the water. He enjoys every minute of it. And now we get to go to his swim lessons twice a week. And then we try to go swimming on weekends so Daddy can get in on the fun. I want to take some pictures at the pool but I keep forgetting to sneak my camera in. 


We have been lucky to get a bit of a break in the cold weather here so we have been taking full advantage of it by going on lots of walks. I can't wait for spring when we won't have to get so bundled up and can walk up to the park! It's only a block away and has a spray park so I imagine we will be spending a lot of time there this summer!


Last weekend we went out to the Winter Play festival out on the river Snye. They had skating, snowboard demonstrations, snow and ice sculptures and other things there. It was actually pretty lame but a nice excuse to get outside. This is one of the sculptures they had there. Some of them were pretty impressive.

I am definitely ready for some warmer weather! It will be so nice to not have to get Brady all dressed up whenever we go out. He is starting to get some pretty crazy hair, usually after he's been wearing his toque. Here's a few pictures of what happens after I pull his hat off...





I'm afraid he's going to have hair like Cody, super out of control. But for the most part it reminds me of my Dad's hair because it naturally combs over to the side like his. Brady is starting to get bigger and bigger every day. He still hate sleeping and has a hard time doing so at night. But other than during the night he is always such a good little boy and so happy. He LOVES to give kisses. He used to only give me big open mouth kisses but has now started trying to kiss everyone. At book babies on Friday he kept trying to grab whichever kid, boy or girl, was close to him and pulling them in with his mouth open and ready! The first little boy he did it to was our friend Harrison and everyone thought it was so cute and then later on he tried kissing a little girl and she starting crying. And then when we got home he spent a good 15 minutes trying to kiss the kid on the huggies box haha. It was pretty funny. He's one loving little boy! 

Brady is enjoying his solid foods and almost refuses most purees now. He wants to eat things that he can either feed himself or that he can chew on. He still doesn't have any teeth so I imagine part of it is that it feels good on his gums. 


I like to get him all dressed up for church because its so cute! But he's starting to get to be a handful and by the time its relief society he's pretty restless. 

He still thinks bath time is the best and is starting to have more fun playing with his toys. He splashes and flips around like its nothing and I'm usually soaking by the end. But it's lots of fun!




Brady loves to play with his toys. He is starting to actually play with them instead of just holding them up and looking at them. He has a carousel toy that someone gave us and when you push the top down it spins around so he just likes to sit there and hit it over and over again. He also loves to stand next to his music table and play all the different instruments on it. 

Brady isn't quite full on crawling yet but is really good at rolling and spinning around the whole house. He can get anywhere he wants to. Just on Saturday though he started to pull himself forward a little bit so I imagine he will be crawling by next week. I guess it's time to invest in some baby gates.

Cody is still working days and we love it! He is about to start a new shift sometime soon so he will be done work at 4PM and have 4 days off at a time. I think it's going to be so nice! We will be able to have dinner earlier and still enjoy an evening afterwards. I am looking forward to that. 

I only have 3.5 months left on mat leave and I'm not really looking forward to going back, but I don't think I'll be working a whole lot. It is pretty hard to find day care up here so I will probably work sometimes when Cody is off. But I am sure enjoying my time off with my baby boy! 

Mad because I wanted to take pictures and he wanted to go play