Easter Sunday

The Easter Bunny of course left eggs out for Mister Brendan. He is so quick at finding eggs. He runs from one egg to another, but in doing this he passes a couple of eggs as well.
Brendan is loading up on Easter Baskets. He got three again this year. What is a good use for a left over Easter Basket? Here is the one that he get at home, beach toys, a new basket ball and of course candy. Just what every three year old needs. :)
After lunch we went to visit and have dinner up in Flint with Brian's parents. There Brendan and Madelyn both got Easter Baskets and everyone was excited to hold little Maddie. Brendan and Daddy helped Grandpa Andrews deep-fry the turkey (which is mommies & daddies favorite way to eat a turkey).

Easter Eggs

Brendan and daddy dyed the Easter Eggs while Madelyn watch on from her high chair.
Brendan is an old pro at this. Mommy went a bit over board and bought the huge deluxe egg dying kit while all Brendan used was the dye and the clear crayon. Oh well now we know better for next year.

Big Fishin....

Today, Brendan and I got out fishing, and we did great! We caught bluegills, perch, and crappie. I don't think I have ever caught crappie this size. We found a new favorite spot.

Brendan's First Soccer Pratice

On Tuesday we had Brendan's first soccer pratice. It was something to watch 10 3-4 year olds chase after one soccer ball. They are easily distracted and sometime don't know which goal to go towards, they get stuck by the fence and can't seem to be able to kick to one another yet. A couple have the basic's of don't touch the ball with your hands and when they are goalie's they can't seem to pay attention to get ready for when the ball comes at them. Brendan is the one in the darker green shirt with the maroon hat.
Brendan did pretty good, he didn't know what was going on and wasn't too sure to go to and listen to the coach's to start with. But I think that is a good thing that he just won't go and listen to just anybody. But being that this was Brendan's first year and most of the children were returning from last summer I would say that he did very good. Brian has been praticing with him on kicking the ball, running with the ball and not using your hands so that wasn't the problem. Now we just have to get him used to kicking towards the goal and running after the ball where ever it goes.

Tummy Time

Brendan like to be my big helper. He gets me a new diaper when I am changing her, he is really good at putting her binky back into her mouth when she shoots it out (yes she needs a binky) and he like to talk to her and entertain her while she lays on her tummy. Here she is hanging out while we watch t.v.

New Bike

Brendan got his big boy bike and a nice Spider-Man helment with matching knee & elbow pads. It was supposed to his Easter present but Brian can't keep a sercet. Oh well. Brendan loves to ride his new bike, we even took Madelyn for a walk to the park this week.

Brendan and Madelyn

Brendan loves holding his baby :) Jen got a couple photos of him holding her last night.

Soccer is coming soon......

Tuesday is Brendan's first day of soccer practice. So, we had to get him all the gear he would need today. The team provides the jersey (not this one). So, we had to get shorts, socks, cleats, and shin guards. He is so excited about his shoes :)

For a 3 year old, he is actually quite good. We have worked on kicking the ball hard, kicking the ball hard while running, dribbling (running around the yard while controlling the ball), scoring on each other, and playing keep away from each other. The whole time we play keep away Brendan can't stop giggling.

Nature Center - 3/29

Wednesday was so nice, we wanted to do something to get outside. Without going too far with the new baby, we went to a local nature center. Brendan has been here before with his 3 year old class, but I had not been.

It also turns out that there was a geocaching "treasure" hidden in the nature center. Hence the GPS in the photo below. Just thought I wouldlet you know in case you thought I brought it because I was afraid of getting lost at a fenced in nature center with paved pathways :)

























Here is a photo of Brendan, Mom and baby Madelyn.




















Unfortunately, our "treasure" was hidden on the one path that was closed because they were cutting up down trees. No treasure today.




















Brendan's favorite riding spot.

Madelyn Violet is Here

Most everybody has probably already heard the news. But, Madelyn Violet joined us at 1pm on March 23. She weighed 6lbs 11oz, and was 20 inches long. These pictures are from the day after. Brendan is a very proud big brother, and loves to hold her (so far). She doesn't really cry (yet) and Brendan is interested to see what is going on everytime she squeaks.

Geocaching

Today we tried something new and different. Geocaching (www.geocaching.com). It was a sport designed to test and practice your navigational skills. In a nutshell, it boils down to people hiding weatherproof containers with goodies inside (their cache). There is usually a logbook and other toys and trinkets. You can take something, if you replace it with another item. The owner of the cache publishes GPS coordinates for the cache at www.geocaching.com.

It is not as easy as it may sound. Punching in GPS coordinates and walking to it. Once you get close, the GPS accuracy can be off by 30 feet or more. That makes locating the actual container more difficult than it seems. We used a combination of the GPS with a compass, and were able to find our first two containers pretty easy.

Of course, we tell Brendan that we are Treasure Hunting. Here we are at our first cache, on a nature trail in Troy.



















Brendan exchanged a matchbox car for a orange-haired mermaid.
























Our second treasure of the day was located in a park in Royal Oak. This one was pretty well hidden between stumps and leaves, but Jen found it.
























Here Brendan exchanged a truck for what we thought was an action figure. Turns out, the action figure was a travel bug. Travel bugs basically have a serial number on a dogtag used for tracking its whereabouts. This one has been from New York to New Mexico. We have to hurry and return it to another cache so it can continue its travels.
























We are considering making up a new cache to place locally next weekend. So, look for more updates on Brendan's treasure hunting.

Ultra Sound

On February 22nd Jennifer had another ultra sound done to check the position of baby.
Here is the photo that we got. It is really hard to make anything out but it is her profile with her hand on her forehead. The nurse thought that it was cute that she was making a dramatic pose but Brian said that anything this baby does is going to happen with a dramatic flair. I wonder where she is getting that from? Hum.
One the picture I tried to draw lines to help point things out. Just above the Face arrow is her eye with her nose being the first bump under her hand and her lips sticking out being the next two. You may have to look at it for a minute for it to make sense.

All About Brendan

While we are getting ready for Brendan's little sister to join us we are also taking time to be with Brendan and to be sure that he is prepared for his little sister's arrivale. So we took Brendan to a Big Brother/Big Sister class at the Hospital where we will be having the baby. Brendan got to tour the floor and see what the rooms look like, look at the nursery and also see the baby's up close at the nursery window. Back in the class room all the children got baby's to pratice holding, feeding, changing, and wrapping up their baby's. Brendan was able to change his baby with very little help but his baby was dropped a couple of times, this we will have to remember.

Also later this Spring Brendan is starting to play soccer with one of his friends that we know. So there will be plenty of photos coming from that. Brendan has the whole list of what he needs to buy all set: shoes, socks, pads, a ball, and shorts. He came up with all of that on his own. I did have to tell him that he didn't need a new shirt because he will be getting one from his coach.

Will keep you up dated on the progress of baby. Keep those phones handy.
-Jennifer

LongHorn Rodeo - Friday 2/17

On Friday night we took Brendan to the Longhorn Rodeo and the Palace of Auburn Hills. Brian's company has a suite there, and we got tickets from them to go.

In the lower left corner of this photo, you will see the smaller steers they used for steer wrestling. The first thing Brendan said when we got there was "Me ride one of those!" Oh god, we are in trouble.


Here a photo of the cowboy himself. We had a pair of binoculars with us, and sometimes he used his hands to pretend he has a pair. That is what he was doing with his left hand here.


Of course he had to ride the kiddie mechanical bull. Hand in the air and everything.


More bull.


Just before he fell off :)

Super Bowl Sunday, Feb 5

We spent Super Bowl Sunday at our friend Jason & Jen's house. And this is how you sled in Michigan if you have a large yard.....Jason also has a couple of large hills for all the kids to slide down and here is a picture of Brendan from inside the house. It was too cold and too much snow here for me to go walking in my tennis shoes, which happen to be the only ones that I can tie right now :).We watch the first half of the game and the half time show (wasn't too impressed) and then headed home. Who won again? JK, go the "Bus" or what ever they call that Steeler player from Detroit.

Saturday Feb. 4

We went up to visit Uncle Dan and Aunt Nancy for Jacob's first birthday. Brendan and Zachary had a great time playing together and being boys. They were heard saying "your turn" and upon investigation we found that they were smushing each others head in a laptop type of book. Great.And Jacob was just the cutest. He loved all the attention from Brendan and Zachary. He had no problems tearing into his birthday cake. He even managed to get blue frosting all in one of his ears.

Georgia Aquarium

While in Georgia we went to visit the new GA Aquarium, the largest in the world I think. I was blown away by the size (and crowd, jeez) of this building. We went and saw everything. There were different rooms that held different tanks, a coral reef, the whale sharks, otters, penguins, and lots more. Brendan got to touch a baby shark and sting ray, shrimp, star fish, and a couple other things. The whale shark in his tank. The glass viewing area was the size, if not larger than an Imax movie screen. And there was also a tunnel that you walked through to see more of the space and the shark up close when they swam over you. Their were two whale sharks and some hammer heads, saw nosed fish and a lot more that I have no clue what they were. Brendan was playing in the different child areas that they had set up through out the building. Papa Tatz went with him into all the areas as well, we just didn't know which one was going to be harder to get out, Brendan who didn't want to leave or papa Tatz with his back having to bend way down to fit into some of these places. But it was all fun and smiles for Brendan and papa made it out with no problems. :)

Popcorn

Brendan and Aunt Ashley had a great time together while in GA. Papa Tatz was even a little jealous about all the love that he gave to her. But mommy and daddy like the break because for once Brendan did not really want us for a week.Here is Aunt Ashley teaching Brendan bad (but cute) habits. He was tossing pop corn into her mouth. It is a good thing that she has a big mouth and that Brendan has pretty good aim. JK. It was very good entertainment for the evening though.

Christmas In Georgia

Once again we drove down to Georgia to have christmas with Jen's family. And this year was extra special because Aunt Ashley was going to be there too with her boyfriend Mike. When we got to Georgia Papa Tatz had a load of lumber in his driveway because he was having a deck built in the back, but when daddy saw the pile he got all excited thinking that he was going to get to built something. But his bubble was busted when we found out their was a small crew (2 guys) doing all the work. Oh well maybe in the summer when we come down.But back to Christmas and opening presents. Brendan once again helped to pass out presents to everyone and he had Mount Everst going on in his pile. So we had him go first and open them all. That took at least half and hour and the kid is fast. But he got some cool toys: a large fire truck, a ton of little cars, a paint ball game for the t.v., punching bag and gloves, a movie, and tons more. Brian was all excited because he got enought in gift cards to Home Depot to buy some new power tools, and I got lots including some girlie bath stuff (now I just need help getting in and out of the bath). And of course their was some girlie baby stuff from Aunt Ashley who was the only one that new the sex of said baby.

Christmas In Flint

Brian and Brendan had Christmas in Flint while I was in the hospital with Kindey Stones, again. But Brian took some photos for me and Brendan came home with alot of toys. I was told that Brendan was the little helper, passing out all the presents to everyone. Here is a photo of him getting ready to tear in to a present himself.

Sledding

This past Sunday Brian and I took Brendan out sledding. There is a hill (man made) at a park that I found over this past summer. It was the perfect day to try out Brendan's new inner tube sled. And Brendan just loved it. We started out just half way up to get use to the idea of Brendan flying down a hill on nothing but an inner tube, but he did great and held on tight so it was to the top of the hill. Which was nice because they had steps with railings on both sides of the hill and even two different hills. We kept with the simple one. Brendan loved it. He said weeee and everything.
One the way home Brendan said go to Papa Tatz' house big hill, but we had to tell him that Papa Tatz does have a big hill just no snow.

Visit with Santa

Brendan got to visit with Santa this year at Berkley's first annual Holiday Lights Parade and Berkley Junior Women's Club annual Tree Lighting on Dec. 3rd. Having escaped from the hospital just hours before (okay they let me out) we were able to go and see the parade with Jim & Sharon, and thank goodness too because mommy was busy helping present flowers to Miss Michigan and an award to this years Parade Grand Marshal, while daddy was taking pictures of course.

But Brendan got to visit with Santa and tell him what he wanted for Christmas (I am not sure what he said).

Dishes

Brendan loves to help out and right now that I can no longer see my feet this is a very usefull thing. Well Brendan's new favorite thing is to do the dishes. And he is really pretty good at doing them too.