Family update

Hey there. Just thought I'd pop on and give a little update about our family.

We're all settled in here in Los Alamitos and now that the heat is dying down a little, we're really enjoying it. It's the perfect location for us because it's half way between Torrance, where Ryan works, and south OC where we find ourselves going often to visit with family and friends. Our neighborhood is great and we've met some great people at church and attend play groups fairly regularly with them. I signed Brady up for a preschool prep class at the community center and we started that this week. He is enjoying it and it's great to have one more reason to get out of the house each week and get him to socialize with kids his age.

Ryan seems to be enjoying his new job at Toyota and he seems to be doing well and making great impressions. He was one of chosen for a 4 month rotation with Scion's marketing department and he was thrilled about that. It's a very sought after rotation in his program and only a few guys get the opportunity to even interview for it. It can definitely give him an advantage within the company.

When he's not working, he likes to be on the golf course (nothing new there!) or at Disneyland with the family. We have passes and go at least once a week now. Often times he'll meet us over there after work.

His 30th birthday is just a few weeks away! I'm excited for him to be my age again (I'm 6 months older). To celebrate, we're heading out to a resort near Scottsdale, AZ for the weekend with Ryan's parents. His cousin lives near there and has agreed to watch Brady (Thanks Tahnee & Tyler!!), so Ryan and his dad can golf while Arlene and I relax out by the pool. I'm excited for this trip and hope Ryan loves it and feels appropriately celebrated :)

--

Brady is two and a half now so he's ... a handful! Actually most of the time he's perfect and is really just the sweetest boy I know. He often asks to cuddle with me or just randomly comes and gives hugs and kisses. But, he's very busy and sometimes I don't think I give him enough of an outlet for all of that energy (being pregnant and exhausted makes it hard to get to the park every day), so we definitely experience our share of tantrums and crabbiness from him.  Other times I think maybe I have too much planned for us and he gets tired of going from here to there every week, so he throws a fit because he doesn't want to leave the house...even for DISNEYLAND!! I must be the only mom who has to FORCE my kid to go to Disneyland some days!

He's started to show fear in ways I've never seen before. A few weeks ago, a glass fell from the cupboard and broke everywhere. He was sitting at the table eating dinner and I instructed him to stay there and keep eating while I cleaned it up. He did and everything was fine, but after the glass was all clean and I sat down with him, he got very quiet and asked to go to bed (NEVER happens). I could sense that something was off and I realized that he was scared of the kitchen. The next day he refused breakfast and would not go into the kitchen alone.

Later, he heard grandma's clock chime while he was playing with toys. He's heard this clock before, but this time he dropped his toys and covered his eyes. When the chiming was done he ran and hid behind the couch and then asked to go take a nap. He responded similarly to the clock chiming all day. We've had a few other situations like this since. It's just such a different reaction from him than I'm used to, he gets so quiet and nervous.

Also, this week I think he's started having nightmares. Twice now he's woken up crying, no, SCREAMING for me and as I go in to get him he is practically jumping out of the crib into my arms. He is in real distress! We have a super comfy chair in his room that we often cuddle in, so both times I grabbed his blanket and paci and sat in the chair with him, but he leapt out of my lap and insisted that we go to my room. It's as if there was something in his room that frightened him. After he's calmed down, I try to take him back to his room and he freaks out again. The next day it takes him several hours before he'll even go in his room. I sure hope this doesn't become a regular thing. It is so sad to see your child so upset and scared...and once he's in our bed, I don't sleep. He's quite the wiggler.

Other than all that, he's a pretty happy go lucky kid. OBSESSED with baseball and golf!! He wants to wear a baseball shirt every day and gets very upset when they're all dirty. There is a baseball episode of Curious George and he requests it no less than 20 times a day. While he's watching, he has his bat, ball and hat and he hits his ball around like a golf ball. He yells "home run!" and then starts running all around. He even drops the bat, throws his hands out and plops onto his belly to "slide". He cracks us up!

That's pretty much all that's new with him since my last Brady update. He's still as cute as ever and is surprising us every day with the new things that he says.

--

I am 29 weeks pregnant now and things are going well. I have about 2.5 months left. Part of me keeps thinking I have so much time, but sometimes I think about how soon it really is and I start to panic. I haven't done much of anything to prepare for this baby...but really, what is there to do the second time around? I don't need to go out and buy a bunch of things for him except for a double stroller and I've already done my research and know EXACTLY what I want. The Britax B-Ready can be used as a double stroller OR a single stroller, so I figure it'll give me the most bang for the buck since I can add a car seat to the back and use it with both kids, or just use the main seat for one kid. Other than that and a few other things (bassinet -- until we figure out a more permanent sleeping situation, stroller accessories, baby monitor, diaper bag, etc.) I don't need much for this baby. And I already took all the classes and read all the books that I'm interested in when I was pregnant with Brady, so I don't know what else I can do to prepare. I don't even want to decorate the boys bedroom yet, because we'll potentially be moving a few months after the baby gets here. I guess all I can do at this point is sit back and wait... and hope and pray that everything goes as smoothly as it did the first time around!

--

Anyway, that's what we're up to around here. Nothing too exciting or interesting, but sometimes that's a good thing!