Travis is goofy

Brody had his 2 year old checkup today!

What did I learn?  I learned that Brody is still tiny, should know 25-50 words and was only getting one shot.  We discussed talking to the county people in upping Brody's therapy to once a week and learned that Brody (still) has an ear infection.  We will be doing the ear drops for the next week to see if that helps and he has a follow up appointment next week.  Fun!  Here are Brody's stats:

Length- 34.25 inches (25-50%)
Weight- 26 pounds 5 ounces (25-50%)
Head circumference- 49.5 cm (50-75%)

Just for fun here are Travis' stats from his 2 year old checkup:

Length- 37.25 inches (95+%)
Weight- 33 pounds 13 ounces (95+%)
Head circumference- 51 cm (95%)

Brody is the same length as Travis was at 18 months and the same weight as Travis was at 12 months!  Crazy how different these boys are!

Happy birthday dear Brody.....

Happy 2nd Birthday Brody!

Today my little Brody Bear turned 2.  2?  How can that be?  Even though he only says 2 words I feel like he is much older that 2....like he's been in our family forever.  ;)  He didn't understand what the fuss was all about and why people kept telling him "happy birthday" but that all changed when he saw this:

I was afraid he would do his "shy" act with the Thomas on the cake but instead......

he couldn't take his eyes off of it!

He wasn't into opening presents AT ALL but was interested in them once they were open.  I have sent Santa an email and a text letting him know to not wrap anything for Brody this year.  ;)  My picky eater was ALL ABOUT eating that cake and ice cream and had a blast playing with his brother and his cousins with some of his new stuff!  Happy birthday Brody Bear!

Travis was the designated present opener

Brody is looking for snacks while Travis opens his gifts ;)

Uhhhhh

GIVE ME CAKE!

This ice cream is COLD

MORE!  Did you see me sign it?  MORE!!!!

Playing with the new grill while Uncle Charlie is still building it

Mmmmmm hamburger--don't tell Mommy

Brody and Annabelle were cooking up a storm

Annabelle is taking orders

Let me do it

Landon and Brody are having fun on the slide

WHEEEEE

Picasso's at work

I don't think that is how you are supposed to run the train.....

Goofy

Apparently the slide makes Landon stick out his tongue in concentration

A hat trick for Travis!

Travis had a hat trick in this mornings game!  His team won 23-6 and he made 3 of those goals!  He was beyond excited.  Maybe one of these days I will actually catch a goal on video.....just maybe.....

The Christmas "pay it forward" project

I mentioned the other day that I (along with the boys at times) are trying to do random nice things for people this holiday season.  If you want to play along I found this site that had tags you can cut out to place on various things like candy canes for example.  The tags can be found here.  We may not always use them but they are nice to have.....like on the 1st I paid for the person behind me at the drive through and the one that says "It's your day" would be perfect for that.  There are a bunch of great ideas for this project here.  What did we do yesterday?  We taped some quarters to the bouncy ball machine at Old Navy.  Will they get used by kids to get a ball or taken by teenagers?  I don't know but it's nice to try and share in the season.  :)

Maybe I do have an "Elf on the shelf"

I watched Brody re-arrange some Christmas decorations today and I decided he is our "elf".  He took a letter from here:

And put it over here:

I think our "elf" is letting everyone know he "believes".  Let's hope Travis stops asking questions about whether or not Santa is real.  ;)  On a side note Travis did proclaim a few nights ago that he thinks Santa would rather have beer with his cookies on Christmas Eve.  LOL

1 day down and 23 to go

This isn't a countdown to Christmas really but a countdown of days to do random nice things for people.  Call it "random acts of kindness" or "pay it forward" or whatever but my goal is to do something nice for someone or multiple people every day this holiday season.  Yesterday I started with paying for the person behind me at the drive through.  Granted they were only getting something that was $1 but it's the thought that counts right?  There are a ton of good ideas out there of things to do and I hope to complete this task.  I plan to post every few days about what I have done and maybe even some pictures.  :)  Why don't you join me?  Make someones holiday even brighter!

I LOVE my crock pot!

I have blogged about this recipe before but tonight we are once again having the crock pot taco chili from Skinnytaste.  You can find the original recipe here and my original post about it here.  The best part (in my opinion) about having this chili tonight is that I had all of the ingredients just already in the house.  I didn't do a menu for this week so I have been winging it but I had all of the stuff so in the crock pot it went!  (note--I left out the chicken today so it's a veggie chili-I added an extra can of beans)  It's just another good reason to have lots of canned tomatoes and beans in the house in case you want to throw together a really quick and VERY tasty chili!  :)

Low Calorie/Low fat Peppermint Bark Fudge? Yes please!

I got this recipe this morning in my email from the "Hungry Girl".  You can also find it linked here.  These sound just delicious and I may be making them today......Happy December everyone!  :)

Peppermint Bark Fudge  PER SERVING (1/36th of recipe, 1 piece): 67 calories, 1g fat, 50mg sodium, 14g carbs,  0.5g fiber, 9.5g sugars, 0.5g protein -- PointsPlus® value 2*  Peppermint bark is awesome. Fudge rules. Put them together (and remove loads  of fat and calories) and you get this guilt-free treat that awesomely rules. Ingredients: 2 cups canned pure pumpkin (Libby's is best!) One 18.3-oz. box Betty Crocker Fudge Brownies mix 3 tbsp. white chocolate chips, roughly chopped 1 standard-size candy cane or 5 mini candy canes, lightly crushed Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8" X 8" baking pan with nonstick spray and set aside. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin with brownie mix; stir until smooth. (Don't add anything else!) Transfer mixture to the pan. Bake until edges are slightly firm and top center is dry to the touch, about 35 minutes. (Batter may look undercooked; this is okay.) Immediately sprinkle with chopped chocolate chips and crushed candy cane(s). Allow fudge to cool. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 2 hours.(This fudge  tastes best when chilled overnight.) Cut into 36 squares and serve! MAKES 36 SERVINGS