Spring State of Mind

This warmer, rainy weather recently sure has me in a spring state of mind. We've been enjoying getting outside again as much as we can in between the days of rain. And we've been learning and growing more than I can even imagine. 

Brayden and Ashley have really enjoyed the "mess" that building a house makes. When it's not muddy, they like to climb up and around the big dirt pile in the front yard. And they've really enjoyed climbing up our rock pile and sliding- or more like scooting- down the pile. Both of these activities usually result in pretty messy children, so baths usually follow their fun on those days.

Walks are still a big part of our outdoor play. Ashley is loving expressing her independence, and always wants to either pull the wagon by herself or help me pull the wagon. Brady has no issue riding inside while Ashley pulls, but they do both like to get out and walk around, especially if we are looking at the cows or see a puddle to splash in. 

On March 20th I had the honor of taking pictures of my newest nephew, Jack Niebrugge. After his session, Erin and Chad brought Jack inside the house so Brady and Ashley (and Eric) could meet him. We were all so in love with him. Brady kept leaning in and waving and saying "hi" to him, and Ashley wanted to be a big girl and hold him and feed him his bottle. 

Eric and I headed to southern Illinois on March 26th to explore the wine trails with some friends. Though it was a little windier than we would have liked, it was really a beautiful day and thanks to some covered patios we were able to be outside a lot of the day. It was a much needed break away from everyday life to just enjoy each other and some friends. I'm told the wine was pretty good too, but I'll have to wait a few more months to enjoy that. 

When the weather hasn't been so nice, we've enjoyed cuddling inside and watching our "b's" (or movies). Ashley has been obsessed with cats lately, so we've been watching "Turning Red" on repeat. And yes, I know it's a red panda, but Ashley insists it's a kitty and there's no changing this girl's mind on that one. 

Brayden is in LOVE with our play kitchen. He will lay all his pots and pans out on the coffee table and mix random food (and sometimes not food) together to make something. He will come up to you with his spoon, open his mouth and say "ahhhh" and want you to take a bite of what he made. He also really enjoys using their toy blender, mixer, and coffee maker while he cooks. 

We've also had lots of updates to the new house in the past month! Our insulation was blown into the walls in the garage and house. 

The front porch, back porch, and side entry porch were all poured.

Drywall was hung and has been mudded.

We are really enjoying watching it come together little by little. We are hoping that siding will be happening soon so the outside looks even more complete, and then watching all of the fun interior things- like flooring, cabinets, and trim- come together in the upcoming weeks as well. 

This past month Ashley's vocabulary has exploded and she is starting to use some pretty long sentences. She wants to do everything herself, even if that means putting on her shoes in the slowest manner possible when you are running late in the mornings. Brayden likes to sometimes bring things to Ashley, like her milk cup or a toy that she is wanting, and sometimes Ashley will get upset and put whatever it was back so she can grab it herself. 

Ashley can be mean, especially to Brayden. She enjoys taking whatever toys he is playing with and throwing them on the floor. With some prompting she will come up with her bent over head "hug" to say sorry to him. She's also hit a nice tantrum phase where she cries over what seems like anything. Like I mentioned earlier, she is in love with kitties and loves petting our neighbor's cat when we see it on our walks. She eats about anything and will try new foods. She still says that daddy is her favorite, but she sometimes says it's me or pawpaw, so there's hope for the rest of us haha. She really enjoys her hugs and kisses before bed, but has to give them to me first before Eric. And she needs a million things in her crib to go to sleep. I don't even know how she fits in there with all of her things, bear being her favorite and one she definitely needs every night in her crib.

Brayden is starting to blossom more in his language skills as well. He has a lot of articulation errors, the biggest being that he leaves the ending sounds off of almost all of his words, which makes him very hard to understand. He talks so much, and if you know the context he does have a pretty big vocabulary. And he is starting to combine 2 and 3 words together as well. Where Ashley likes to repeat everything that you say, Brayden is not so keen on repeating what you model to him, so it's harder to see that progress with him. His monkey and pillow are must haves for him, and he is almost always sleeping on it in his crib. He even likes to lay on it for diaper changes now. 

He is a lot pickier in his eating, and doesn't like to try something if he's never seen it before. Sometimes we can trick him into trying something, and he might eat three or four helpings of it that day. But then if we give it to him again the next day, he acts like he has never seen it before and won't touch it. Brayden is a big momma's boy, and had been giving Eric a tough time of not letting him do anything for him. Luckily he has gotten a lot better and has gone to Eric for things that he normally would only come to me for, so that's been great for all of us. 

Brayden and Ashley have sure been a treat, and we've loved watching their little personalities develop and watching them grow and learn new things every day. We are soaking up the last few months of just the four of us, and are looking forward to watching them adjust to being big siblings.