Disney 2011-Part 1

Hey Friends,
Many of you heard we braved a trip to disney with a 3.5yr old and 19mth old, during spring break time, and yes, if you were thinking, 'they are crazy' you would be absolutely CORRECT on that statement! We made it back safe and sound, and we had alot of fun but not much relaxation!! We are all greatful to daddy for all his hard work to get us this trip, it was a fun time overall!! Bryson had a BLAST! it was just alot for Nolie to handle and he had a throat infection and couldnt' sleep well the first couple days, the last few days were more enjoyable for everyone, when baby's happy-everyone can be happy! I have a ton of pictures, so I'll get started!

We arrived to the State Farm Welcome reception to get our tickets, eat snacks, and most important, MEET some characters!!

Nolan and I worked on this icecream Mickey:
Bryson went for the huge fruit bar:

Daddy tried out the Mickey ice cream sandwich:

Nolie decided he also wanted what Bryson had and of course, they can't share:

Now for the main event, MICKEY!! Nolan was SO excited and decided to not wait in line and run right up to Mickey Mouse, it was so cute!

Our family with a random girl who wouldn't get out of our picture, and Nolan was mad for some reason when the pic was taken.

Buzz walking in Bryson was so excited, we wait in line, get up there, and he's scared and won't even give Buzz a five, Nolan however was very into it!

Most of you reading my Blog saw this picture.. our attempt at a clever way to announce our expanding family with a sweet little girl (Sarah Paige) from a fellow South Carolina Agent they so nicely let us borrow for this fun picture...she was PRECiOUS!! (and LOVED buzz!!)

Woody!!!

Cool Playground at Epcot the boys enjoyed, although Nolan was too little for it

This was a common site in most parks, Bryson's feet hurt, normally the kid would flip at the idea of a stroller, but there is soo much walking at Disney, he always wanted carried.

The coolest Lightning McQueen made out of flowers, so neat, Bryson LOVED him!

We met up with my great friend Katie and her son Carter and the boys really hit it off!

A small glimpse of our resort pool.. super fun..most fun for B was the shipwreck water slide, it was so fun!

After the finding Nemo ride Nolan was the only one who would pose in the shark with Daddy, Bryson was a total grouch and was scared I guess!

A cute baby bunny on the pier of our hotel, the boys were fascinated by him!

Animal Kingdom Safari:

Someone let a wild BITING animal on our safari, how'd he find me??

Dinosaurworld had a really cool arcade games and Bryson loved them, and was really good at it! He won about 6 prizes!

One of 4 prizes we had left in our room from daddys hard work!

The one night we thought we might get caught in rain, but luckily didn't!
Being onery, running around

Finally got the stroller, Nolan didn't appreciate that.

Luck of the Irish

I feel so lucky..but, I don't think I have Irish in me, athought my little red seems to look like he could have some Irish blood and the temper to go with it, who knows tho? Honestly, I know I really should know more about my ancestors and where I came from, but that's something for another day. St.Patty's day--makes me think "luck of the Irish' and with Lent begining today and thinking of things to give up and things I'm thankful for right as I'm about to leave my beautiful 2 babes for a much needed mini vaca to Napa (im goin to drink like im irish til sunday!) I am feeling sentimental and have the need to write to my sweet boys because I havent really done that before, just for them to look back and read it sometime, so..here goes:

My beautiful blue eyed boys:
I don't think I could ever begin to tell you how much I love you both. Special doesn't begin to describe how awesome you are! You two are by far the best thing mommy has done, EVER. I feel so lucky and blessed that God chose me to be your mommy, I will never take that gift for granted, because it truly is the most wonderful gift someone could ever have. Being mommy is the best job on earth, and I can't even imagine what my life would be like without you, my house might actually be clean, we might have food and no fights at dinner, and wouldn't have as many gray hairs, but i wouldn't trade that for the world, it would be soo disturbingly quiet and so boring with out my house filled with my boys! I love your adorable smiles, sweet bear hugs and slobbery kisses, sharing all my food, having my drink filled with floaties, your giggles really are the best sound on earth.
I'm sorry I can't spend more time playing and wrestling with you each day, I hope you love your school and friends and learn alot each day. I work to give you a good life and I think about you all day as I look at your precious faces a million times a day in the pictures overflowing on my desk. I tell stories and brag to anyone who will listen. I hope you know mommy is your biggest fan and will always support you in anything you want in life. I love you more than anything in this world and I would do anything for either of you! Your growing so fast, before long you won't want to cuddle me on the couch and run and give me kisses and hugs so I will enjoy all I can get now before all that attention is just 'not cool' anymore.
Thank you boys for giving my life true meaning. I love watching you grow and learn every day, even more I love watching you interact with each other and I hope you always remain close and stick up for eachother (just not to me!). Your the best little boys and I couldn't ask for more. I LOVE YOU!!!

xoxo,
Mommy

What a YEAR!

A few pictures from the last few months:

Brotherly Love:
Toy Story Party Invite!

Opening Presents, I'm 3!!
Trying to get Santa hat pics:

Cheesy boy

Bryson LOVES to feed Nolan and of course, Nolan LOVES food!!

Why do we spend money on toys, they had a BLAST for hours in this big box!

BATMAN & Robin, so darn cute! They had a great time trick o treating, so much fun!!

Cheesey face

Trying to get Nolan in a Santa hat is nearly impossible!

Wow, I know already what my New Years resolution is, Blog each month about my kids so I can remember all the hilarious stuff they do! ( even tho it should be to get to the gym!)

We have had a wonderful, fun and tiring year!! The kids are really growing up and I still continue calling Nolan a baby, even tho he clearly is NOT a baby!! He is now 15mths and is just a ball of fire! He's had some issues staying healthy lately, he had tubes last month which was great for the ear infections, but has had strep 2 times in the last month, not fun! He is really learning alot, he loves his new toddler room, he is standoffish at times but once he is comfortable he is just so fun and funny! He is not much of a talker really, but he has no problem making his feelings and opinions known!! I think his favorite thing to do right now is climb on my couch and run up and down or off of it. This kids head has a magnet for hard objects! Not to mention his terrifying falling stunt at Thanksgiving where he bit a huge whole in his tongue, which has healed fabulously, thank the lord for that! He loves to play with Bryson's toys and he loves to eat! Bryson doesn't really love sharing his stuff, but that doesn't stop him from trying! We attempted to go see Santa, he was definately NOT a fan, unfortunately, we'll try again next year! He is really fun right now and understands most of what you say and loves to shake his head yes or no and comes over to get me and pull me up to take me where he wants me to go. Nolan just loves his big brother, and watching them is the cutest thing! Especially when Bryson is feeding him snacks or they are sitting together on a mini chair watching 'toons' together, melts my heart! Those are the moments you really realize, wow, Im so blessed what awesome kids!

Bryson, my firstborn, just turned 3!! holy cow, how is that possible!?? we had a Toy Story themed bday party, Buzz cake and all, he loved it!! He was so cute with it all and was very good about saying thank you for all his gifts, he said his favorite was the piata (pinata) which was a buzz spaceship. Im so glad the weather stayed good enough most people still made it, it was a blast! He got so much great stuff, i think one of the biggest hits was the big buzz doll with the lazer lights, he was hilarious with it and wouldn't put it down for days. Jeff and I got him a Tag Jr, which he loves to use each night before bed, Im glad that was a hit, now i need so more books, im getting sick of them already!!

Bryson is super excited about Santa this year, it's just so cute that he finally 'gets it' he has asked for a Bigfoot, Batman Car and a Rocket, which the rocket was added after 'santa' had done shopping, so hopefully he won't be disappointed, cause i really have no clue what he's talking about with a rocket anyway!! :) We also have a new houseguest, our Elf on the Shelf, Ernie. Bryson loves finding him each morning when he wakes up, and he's a good motivator to keep him on task when he's really not wanting to cooperate (which can be often, lol) I wish he could get him to eat MEAT! This kid is getting so scrawny he's picky picky!

Bryson has also started the Pre-school class (not pre-k yet, late bday) he is loving it, he calls it the big kid class. He has done fabulous with the potty training and he even has been doing great overnight, he refuses a pullup so thankgoodness for me and my washer that he's gotten good with holding it all night!! It sure is nice to only buy diapers for one kid!! Bryson is so fun right now, he is hilarious, and onery and sweet and smart with the memory of an elephant. He just cracks us up with his sense of humor and how he just says things and understands so much etc. What a little boy! Its awesome to watch him learn and develop! I still think my favorite moments, other than him being sweet to his brother are when he wants to cuddle with is mom before bed or when he comes in about 530 or 6 and says i want to sleep with you mom and curls up with me. I know those moments won't last much longer, I cherish them now!

So, that is a small recap of things going on the last few months. I will do my best to start being WAY better about my updates. I love having memories in writing because Im learning quickly that having kids has not done favors for my once great memory! :)

POTTY TIME

we are on a potty mission with Bryson and I started in full force yesterday and Im not giving up like I have in the past. I'm not lucky enough to get to have the days with him so we are doing our own modified version of whatever it takes to get this child to be out of diapers before halloween, i hope that's not an unreachable goal.
So..Day 1.. he went a few times at daycare, but the minute we get into the house i take his pants and diaper off take him potty and let him pick out and put on big boy undies- I tell him, OK.. great job on the potty and your a big boy now so we have to pee on the potty and don't get these undies wet, u tell me anytime you feel like you have to go, or just go straight to the potty on your own. We added a sticker to the potty chart.. 4 stickers=prize, by the end of the night, he made the 4 so i owe him a prize today, so i gotta go get some..whatever it takes right? lol.
We even took a wagon walk for about 20-25min and he did great! which leads to a funny bryson story:
there is a cute itty bitty mouse/shrew bobbing around the road we walk on, we were having fun watching him, and he let us get really close and he just stood there trembling and bryson says.."lets pick him up mom" i said.. he's really scared, he's shaking, lets just watch him. He says.."I want to ride my bike with him, he can sit on my handle bars, he like it?" I laugh..sorry buddy your bike is at home, "lets go get it, he want to ride with me" i said, well, maybe tomorrow we will come back with your bike and look for him. "OKKKKaay" he says.. hilarious kid. then Nolan is dragging his hands over the wheel by his seat and bryson keeps telling him STOP it baby, you can't do that, and pulls his hands back into the wagon, and nolan looks at him with a nasty look and puts them right back.. no baby stop! and pulls them back in again, over and over til the baby finally just screams.. i say, thanks bryson, your a good brother, but he's so little and doesn't understand, lets just ignore him and maybe he'll stop. Im glad he's looking out for him even if the baby won't listen!! :) They are so much fun, just make life so much more fun and entertaining.
Bryson doesn't want to go to bed lately and is becoming great with excuses and stall tactics to stay up...he showed up at the bottom of the stairs last night and scared the crap out of me, i say, why are you up? "ba cause..ba cause mom, i just want to" then he sees my popcorn, i want some! so i give him a little handful and say, we are going to bed. he goes and hugs and hugs me, don't leave mommy, sleep in my bed" then he says.. i want popcorn. i just didn't eat much today." i say, oh so your hungry cause you didn't eat enough.. "yep mom." I said, well, sorry buddy, its bedtime so you can have breakfast when you get up. and I finally get to leave after a long conversation and a million hugs. Its so hard because i love his loving side, even when i know he's trying to manipulate me! lol.

Back to Potty.. Day 2! he wakes up, daddy takes him in to potty, he begs for big boy undies, but i tell him we can wear a pull up and wear some undies over it, he finally agrees. we get are on our way to school this morning and in the car hes s aying..i have to PEE..i say, hold it, we are almost there.. we get in and he sprints to the bathroom and goes potty! i was SO proud, this is huge for him! So i tell the teacher what we are doing and hope hope he continues doing well at school and doesn't forget to tell people, but i will pick him up at 430 and we will be back on our routine like last night. and saturday we will do all day at home and just focus on potty potty potty!

FInGERS crossed, wish us luck!! (more updates as the days go by!)

ONE YEAR!!!

Party Highlights:
Bounce house slide.. so fun!! WEEE!!!
Hmm.. do i like cake? YES!

LOVED my monkey pillow pet Love the bounce house!!

My cute construction bday shirt

My baby is ONE!! Can you believe it? I sure can't, it's crazy! im not ready for this, can we freeze time?? Nolan is such a sweet, active little boy, he and his big brother are such a blessing to our lives, I honestly can't remember what we did before this. I love my boys!!
Last weekend we had a big Construction bday bash, transformed our yard and it was awesome, we were scared the weather wasn't going to cooperate but it turned out GREAT! Nolan dug into some cake, but really didn't go to nuts with it. We had to wake him up alittle after people started arriving so it took him awhile to adjust to all the people and let loose and take off on his own, he kinda looked around thinking what is going on? We had a bounce house and all the kids, even babies and parents loved it. It was really fun! My mom and sister came up to help get everything ready, i baked the cakes and made the icing and my mom went to town decorating, then Nicki and i made a rice krispie truck, it looked cute, but tasted terrible! not sure what the problem was!?? We had construction hats for all the kids with their names and a pinata with yummy candy, and treat bags filled with tool shaped bubbles, stickers, playdough and fruit roll ups..then some construction dressed rubber duckies for the littler ones! Nolan got lots of wonderful toys,golf clubs, books, some cute clothes some new seats(pb chair and a disney saucer chair), a play tent and even a trike! He really loved his pillow pet from his Nini, he just hugged and hugged it..he is a big fan of soft fuzzy things, blankets or animals....(i think he got that from me!!) . He got a big kick out of his laughing Elmo doll too! We had a great turn out and I think everyone had fun and was worn out!! I know I was!! Bryson has enjoyed the toys probably more than even Nolan has, he thinks they are all his and gets mad when Nolan tries to push his way in to play..i have to keep reminding him of whose they are!! :)

Nolan has had a great first year, and I just can't believe how much he and Bryson are alike. They are very similar on their height and weights. both in the 97% for weight, height and head(which i figured, huge heads!) Nolan is 24.6lbs, 32", and big ol chubby feet. He has 10 teeth with more looking like they are about to start the process of breaking thru, those are such a joy. NOT! He says mamma, dadda, baabba, bye, baaa(ball) will wave, and does' more' in sign language(b taught him), claps..knows the doggie and kitty in books.. loves to read, he gets excited for our colorful books with mirrors or touch and feel, and loves the sesame street baby books also. He loves animals, goes crazy if we see a dog in person and will chase it around for as long as he can.. i'd really love to take him to a zoo soon. He understands more than he can actually say and gets his point across pretty well, with that true red-headed temper. But he is just so cute with his sparkly blue eyes, red hair and chubby cheek toothy grin, it's hard to say NO.. He is obssessed with our phone! if our bedroom door is open, he goes right for it..he even puts it up to his ear and says..DAAADAAA....it's so hilarious! then he'll carry it into the other room and just yell..DAADAAA.!!! We are trying to get off the bottle, he is usually only having one, at night to get to bed.. occasionally he will get one in the middle of the night if he's really upset and mommy wants to get back to bed. lol.. he goes off and on on the sleep, he normally does great if he's not teething.. those teeth are rough!!
Bryson and Nolan are great buddies, and in true old brother style, Bryson likes to pester him. He will put him in head locks or just wrap his arms around him hugging him too hard, i've seen nolan trying to get away pulling bryson across the floor, or here him going EEEH EEEH trying to pull away, after awhile, he's finally had enough and squeals loud... I've caught him trying to kick the baby away from him when Nolan wants something he has or wants to sit in the chair with him. He also likes to feed him bits of what he has. He thinks he is quite the big brother, which he is. The other day I picked him up alone from daycare and he said, mom wait, we forgot baby nolan!!! very concerned big bro! Nolan really lights up and squeals when he sees Bryson, I never imagined watching brothers bond would be so rewarding and just plain ADORABLE to watch! Nolan is starting to learn to fight back..we were on a walk last week in the stroller and Nolan was pounding bryson in the face with a foam bat, i could help but laugh! bryson kept saying he's hitting me, you tell him to stop but he doesnt' really understand that yet.

Well, i've written a book and could go on all day..i better wrap this up.

more later!

thanks to all friends and family for helping make Nolan's birthday so special, we love you!!

10 MONTHS!

AHHH! My baby is 10 months and it just doesn't seem possible! Nolan is just growing so fast that I can't keep up! What a joy this boy is to our life, I can't imagine our lives without him. We are so blessed! Nolan is a sweet, lovable, smiley strong willed and just a really fun boy to have around!
Nolan has been standing and' cruising' for a long time now, and is now really trying to walk and will stand up in the middle of the floor and look around wanting to move. He does great wheeling around his push toy and even came from behind the couch after finding it pushing it one handed showing off for his Nini giving her this smile and head nodd like' aren't i cool!??' we just busted up laughing it was adorable! He is so brave and unfortunately that and the magnet his head seems to have with the floor = lots of bruises, poor kiddo! he will climb the stairs, and loves to climb this picnic table bryson eats at, shown in this picture.. he also LOVES the fire truck chair, that is the #1 favorite for both of them, he likes it even more if big brother is in it, he climbs all over him.
The table, and curious brother to follow:


The firetruck chair Nolan is obsessed with:

Bryson and Nolan are becoming good buddies, there interaction is fascinating to watch. Little brother is already perfecting the role of pestering his big brother!! He is always after his food (and TOYS, wants to be with him and do what he does!!) Bryson does good for the most part, till he is tired of sharing and being wallered, then watch out. I have to watch those too close, mostly because Bryson likes to 'feed' baby red bear.. eek! (last night it was fruit snacks..yikes!) All I can say is..if having one boy didn't teach me not to sweat the 'small stuff' then 2 definately made me a pro at it!

My sweet boys:

They are really starting to look alike too (cheeks, nose and mouth):

love/hate relationship:

We do joint bath's now, unless we can get B to shower with Daddy, just alot easier on mommy, and they seem to enjoy it! Here are my cute water babies:
Nolan LOVES big boy food and has refused baby food for months(never much cared for it in general) and good thing he has 8 teeth now so he can eat about anything we all do, and he enjoys it! His favorites include: Pizza, Spagetti, greenbeans, peas, and finger foods (cereals, crackers, etc) and of course icecream! (but eats about anything 'real' and he can't be tricked he knows baby food so don't try it! ) Bryson eats at his small picnic table and he has to watch out because we have a food snatcher on the loose! You blink and it's gone! The other night he had a lunchable and I hear "ahh..mommy, get him away' and I get over there and Nolan has taken a handful of mini crackers and his very proud of himself for it! How can you get mad at those sparkling blue eyes and chubby stuffed cheeks and toothy grin..it's hard!! Then not long after Bryson had a bowl of Kix and sure enough, Nolan is right there beggin, and doesn't get what he wants so he grabs hold of the bowl and tries to get some and it dumps and gets milke EVERYwhere! he thought it was funny and liked rubbing the mess around and helping himself to the soggy cereal. Bryson wasn't too happy, mostly because he HATES when anything wet is on his clothes and his pants were drenched, he strips down when anything gets on him. funny..but not funny. lol.

Here is the food snatcher in action, just after he got caught 'stealing' of all things.. donuts:

Ice cream and popsicles are a big hit in the Mossman house, luckily Bryson is sharing pretty well. The other night he let Nolan share his popsicle and Nolan LOVED it, and took it away and had a death grip on the stick, bryson would try to get it and Nolan would screech at him like.. back of this is MINE buddy! So mommy had to step in and straighten it out. Normally dessert is icecream and both boys love that. Here is a picture of bryson sharing some icecream with his little bro:

Here is the big man eating.. we are working on 'more' and all done in sign language right now, but right now all we usually get is a wave HI a big grin or a dumbfounded look in response.. we'll keep working!
Until next time...

We're OFF to the FAIR

Bryson and his buddy Grant:
Riding a motorcycle:

driving:

The Train:

Addy!

The RACE!

Driving a mower:

starting out on the horse:

Yummy, LEMON!

mommy and B!

The DRAGON!! eek!

Soft bunny!

In the bubble:

Nolie chillin:

Morgan County Fair came to town last week, and Bryson every day said" I want to go to the fair mommy!" so then i'd say in a few days we will so every time we got in the car, " we go to the fair in a couple days, in a couple days mommy????" So when friday finally arrived, it was an exciting day! We started off seeing the animals, his favorite were the chickens or 'roosters' as he said, and he liked petting the bunnies, they were really cute! Then next were the mowers and tractors, he LOVED those and got on several of the mowers to 'drive' and asked to ride the tractors but, that wasn't allowed! lol. We headed over to get the $17 all you can ride braclet and prayed he would get our money's worth and boy did he! You just never know how a kid will react and at first he didn't know what to think on the merry-go-round (we started slow and easy, lol) and then his buddy Grant showed up and they just went crazy going on all the rides, the bouncy house slide, the bouncey house, the train, the big slide that mommy and daddy had to ride with him and raced our friends Dana and Jason, they even ventured to the mini roller coaster DRAGON, they were a bit to short but the guy said it was okay if and adult rode too, so mommies to the rescue! Dana and I squeezed ourselves in and got beat up to let the boys enjoy the ride, and bryson's face was priceless and he was squeeling, it was so cute! There were some spaceship/motorcycles etc that were a hit also, his 'girlfriend' from school, Addy, was there and he rode one time on one with her. We saw lots of people we knew. We finished up the night with a bunch of JUNK!! taffy, strawberry lemonade and a funnel cake, yummmy! Baby nolan was along for the ride, got out to watch awhile, even enjoyed the lemon from our drink, then he was so tired he zonked out in the stroller for the last part of the night. It was great fun for us all!