Happy Birthday Brady!

On Saturday, my Brady Bear turned 3! It was a pretty low key birthday. Some of Tim's family were in town visiting-Grandma and Grandpa Mann, Uncle Tim, cousin Trisha and her husband John. They all came over for the day as well as our good family friends, Dan and Cathy. As I mentioned in a previous post, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is Brady's favorite thing at the moment, so this was the theme of his birthday party. Tim and I put up all his decorations the night before, so on Saturday morning when he got up there were balloons, streamers and banners with Mickey Mouse on them. He was like a kid on Christmas morning when he saw them-precious! I also had his birthday presents on the table which he made a bee line to and from that moment on couldn't wait to open them! He was totally into the idea of opening presents and playing with balloons this year. I think we could have wrapped some empty boxes and let him open them and filled the room with balloons and he would have been perfectly happy. The biggest excitement of the day though was his birthday cake. Every year I try and out-do myself as a wanna be super mom and make this amazing cake. Well, this year, I bit off a bit more than I could chew. I decided I wanted to make Mickeys clubhouse. I did some research online and saw other clubhouse cakes with descriptions on how they made them. I thought, well that doesn't sound that hard. All the decorations on top of the cake are made with fondant and well that's like playing with play-dough. How hard can it be?! Well, turns out, it wasn't too hard, just time consuming. I may have wanted to skip the bike ride I went on that morning. Ooops! So anyhow, I got the cake made and decorated finally at around 3:30 that afternoon! Uggghhh! But in the end, Brady absolutely loved it! He is still talking about the cake. So really that is all that mattered.

Thank you for the "My Very Own Name" book Aunt Sara!


The Mann Family


Thanks for helping to celebrate Brady's birthday Dan and Cathy!


Did I mention (in case you hadn't noticed by Tim's jersey) that Notre Dame had their first game on Saturday. So after we had birthday cake and opened presents, it was football watchin' time!

Brady's Fancy Dancin

One of Brady's favorite things at the moment is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I think he could watch this show all day if I let him! One of the episodes that just cracks him up is Goofey's fancy dance. All the characters are trying to teach Goofey a fancy dance for the fancy dance at Mickey's clubhouse. So the other night while I was cooking supper I had the little mantra in my head that they use to teach Goofey-Step, step, hop, shake (your tail feather's that is! Haha!). I was saying it out loud and I look over and Brady is standing at the fridge playing with his fridge magnets doing the shake part. It was sooo cute! So of course I ran with it and got him to do the whole dance and of course that cracked him up to! It was hilarious! And yes, he is running around in his tighty whities. He's not a big fan of pants and since he looks so cute in them I let it go. Enjoy the silly video!

Grayson's belly laugh

Grayson started smiling at us at around 2 months and smiles and coos often, but doesn't let out a big belly laugh too often. This particular evening it was after his last feeding of the day and we were having our usual evening chat. I was pulling out all the stops to try and get a good belly laugh from him and the fake sneeze was a success! I think we could have sat there and done that routine all night! I just can't get enough of those first giggles!

For the love of the ride

Every Saturday I go for my long training rides while my wonderful Tim stays home with the boys. Today was slotted for a 70 miler, but I started coming down with a bit of a cold Friday morning and just felt yucky all day. I took some Mucinex with the hopes of an over night cure so I could be in tip top shape for my ride. Well that didn't happen...plus, the weather channel was forecasting thunderstorms all day, so it was a little iffy if I should go in the first place. So after hemming and hawing this morning I finally decided to go. I mean, even if I stayed home and tried to rest, the likely-hood of that happen is very small with a Brady and a Grayson around. There is no way I would have been able to lay on the couch and mope and do nothing. So, oddly enough, a 70 mile bike ride is more rest and relaxation than I would get at home. My bike rides are my time. I get to go out and be by myself and do something completely selfish and for me only. Plus, when I get home from these long rides Tim has either cleaned the house or started supper or done something on my list of things to do. Then I get to lay down on the couch drink a beer and take a nap and it is completely acceptable. Any other day that would never happen! So even though me and my cold went out and rode 71.6 miles averaging 15.6 mph for 5 hours, took a wrong turn, went 5 miles and two 10% grade hills out of my way, and rode a super hilly course, it was totally worth it!

Rollie Pollie

Today our little baby Grayson rolled over for the first time! He rolled from his stomach to his back. I laid him on his belly in his crib for a bit of tummy time while I cooked supper and when I went in to check on him he was on his back! So I flipped him over to his tummy again, went in a few minutes later and lo and behold he was on his back again! And he was just as pleased as punch with himself-giggling and squirming all over the place. Every night after Brady is in in bed, after Grayson's last feeding and just before I put him down for the night he and I have a chat-he seems to be his liveliest at night-when he bables and coos and laughs. Tonight I put him on his tummy and he rolled over another 3 or so more times. So, it is confirmed, he has added rolling over to his bag of tricks! Go Grayson!

Thumb sucker!

Well folks, it seems we have a thumb sucker on our hands. Brady was never a thumb sucker and was always very fond of his "fia" (pacifier)-and still is, much to my mother's dismay. The kid was off of a bottle by 1, potty trained by 2 and only requests his fia at bed time, so I say hey, it's not hurting anything, let him go to college with the thing! Perhaps it will keep the girls away! Haha! So anyway, it has come as quite a surprise to me that Grayson is a thumb sucker and doesn't really care for the pacifier. He is now able to bring his hands to his mouth voluntarily (one of those great mini-milestones!) and has discovered that his thumb is just so convenient and he loves to suck on it. Here are a couple pictures I captured.

Tomato's!

Even though we live in an apartment I refused to give up a chance at a mini garden. I planted a tomato plant and a basil plant (I planted a cilantro plant as well, but ripped his roots in half when I was transplanting, so he didn't last long-oooops!). They both have done really well! As picky/weird of an eater as Brady is, one of the things he enjoys to eat is cherry tomato's, so I am always sure to have some on hand. In WA I had quite the garden (for a first timer that is) which included a tomato plant, and I would constantly catch Brady picking the tomato's off and eating them. Here in MD the plant is right next to his sandbox and in close view for me to catch him trying to pick the tomato's. He ever so patiently waited for them to ripen and finally one day we went out and picked the tomato's! Here is a photo of his excitement and my lovely patio garden.