Apple Picking

Yesterday Brooks, Keely and I went to my mom's house in the morning so I could download some pictures I needed for some scrapbook pages off her computer.  After I got that done, mom said she was going to go to town to get more apples from the apple tree in the yard of the parsonage of their church to make more applesauce with.  She asked if we wanted to come along, and I thought, sure why not! Turns out Brooks loved it! Before I even had Keely out of the car, he had picked one off the tree and started eating!

 Dad brought along a ladder, so we were able to get quite a few apples from that little tree! Some of them were pretty big!

 The apple picker....

 I needed to make something with apples yesterday, so I decided to make "Apple Things"  I have no idea what their real name is, but they are zweiback dough topped with apples and sugar.  For those of you who don't know what zweiback are, they are a Mennonite bread roll that have 2 rolls put together (one on top of the other).  They are a tradition in my family, but I had never made them before (at least successfully!).  Since my mom has a bread machine recipe for the dough, I figured it would be easy enough to try out. 

Brooks of course had to help me put the ingredients in the bread machine...he's probably going to be a chef someday as much as he loves to help in the kitchen! :)

 Before going into the oven...

 The yummy finished product! (baked at 400 for 15-20 min)

Unfortunately these Apple Things only used up 3 of the apples, so I still have a bunch to do something with.  I want to make an apple crisp yet and then I will probably try and freeze some cut up with sugar and flour to use in a future pie....we'll see how that turns out!

Big Boy Bed

Last night was a pretty major milestone in our little Brooks' life.  We moved him from the crib to a big boy bed! We've been talking about moving him for a while, but just kept stalling because he sleeps so well in his crib that we didn't want to disrupt that.  But with Keely needing to use the crib because she has started to roll over a few times, we just needed to take the leap to a big bed.  A few weeks ago I had bought some new sheets for Brooks' bed.  I bought a sports themed sheet set and comforter becuase it would match the decorations I have for his room (they are completed and ready to hang up since before Keely was born, but they have yet to be hung....oops).  However, then I got to thinking that he has plenty of time to have 'big kid' sheets and practical ones that he won't necessarily outgrow the theme, so why not get him something really fun for now.  So when I was at Target last week, I found the perfect ones.  Angry Bird sheets! Brooks was so excited! He helped me get them out of the package yesterday and really wanted to use them for nap time in his crib, but I told him I had to wash them and he needed to wait until the big boy bed was up.  After naps, I took Brooks and Keely to Lichti's furniture here in York.  I let Brooks get on several of the mattresses and 'pick out' the one for his bed.  He thought it was so much fun! Luckily we were able to convince him that the cheap, starter mattress was the one he wanted! :)  Blake met us there and we got the mattress loaded and home.  Then we told Brooks we'd take him out for supper anywhere he wanted...of course he said Applebee's, so that's where we went.  Then we drove to my sister's house to get the bed frame from Katy's room (her kids are moving to bunk beds, so we got the hand-me-down bed that my brother had used as a kid!)  When we got home, Brooks was so excited to put up his new bed and use the Angry Bird sheets!

 We weren't sure that he would ever be able to fall asleep with all the excitement! He kept throwing his big Angry Bird at the green pigs...so fun!

Keely got to hang out in the crib while we got the bed put together.

 We are now going to read him his books in his bed and say our prayers before we go to sleep...trying to get a 'big boy' routine for bedtime

 He loved it when we 'tucked' him in.  He has never slept with a sheet on him, just a small blanket that doesn't usually stay on him all night, so I wasn't sure how he'd like it, but he thought it was great!

 Brooks did so well in his bed.  He didn't wake up this morning until 8:30! The first thing he said to me when I came to get him out was, 'Brooks didn't fall down!'  No, he didn't fall out and did great staying in bed all night!  He was still so excited about it and had to show me all the birds again this morning.

 And wanted to wear his angry bird shirt grandma had bought him

One thing that really surprised both Blake and I was that he did not want any of his old stuffed animal 'friends' in his bed with him!  We asked him if he wanted Junior, Ace Bear, Owl, or Scout in bed last night and he said no! Just Black Angry Bird.  We asked him a second time, just to be sure, and he said "no, put in crib.  They are Keely's!" We were shocked! Apparently he thinks they belong in the crib and that they should be passed down to Keely along with the crib! Such a sweet big brother! I don't think we are going to give her owl or ace bear because those are pretty special to Brooks, but perhaps Junior can move on to her :) 

Anyway, we had so much fun yesterday getting Brooks his big boy bed and hopefully he will continue to sleep well in it...guess we'll see at nap time today! I'm a little worried how Keely will take to sleeping in the crib tonight because she hasn't really slept completely flat for a long time now.  (The bassinet napper I have for the pack-n-play is a little more cradling and keeps her head slightly propped up.) But she hasn't been sleeping through the night anymore anyway, so getting up with her won't be too much out of the ordinary...just hope it's not too often!
One more thing, this morning when I showered, Brooks wanted to play the iPod and Angry Birds on his Angry Bird bed.  So cute!

Siblings

Even though Brooks has acted a little jealous of Keely when she takes up so much of mommy's time, he really does love his little sister.  He thinks everything she does and says is hilarious and likes to make sounds back at her whenever she starts 'talking' to us.  Blake said he heard him go up to her the other day a say, 'hi cutie'.  He likes to give her toys, let me know if she spit up, (or starts sliding out of her bouncy seat...we now have to make sure she's strapped in!), or give her kisses.  Here are just some pictures of the past couple weeks of the two of them. 

 Brooks showing Keely some toys.  She is really starting to love to be entertained by toys, but then gets mad because she can't quite control her arms and hands to hold them for long periods of time.  So it worked well to have Brooks show them to her.

 

Brooks thinks it's hilarious that Keely chews on her fists.  He likes to make fun of her by copying her.  The other day he saw a picture of himself when he was little chewing on his fist, and he thought that was pretty funny!

 Watching tv together...it was probably America's Funniest Home Videos. That is Brooks' favorite show these days!

Jammies!

 Laughing at the fist thing again....

 Look at me Keely! He always wants her to look at him.  She usually does cause watching Brooks is one of the better ways to entertain her right now!

 Love these two :)

Routine

I've discovered that I am a person who likes routines.  Perhaps I have passed this on to my first born a little too much because he definitely likes routine! If we try and do a basic daily routine (like what we eat, how we eat it, or what cup a certain drink is in) we normally have meltdowns! I've been trying to work with Brooks and help him be ok with change, but I think it will be an ongoing struggle for awhile! Brooks still only eats a few things for lunch and supper (chicken nuggets, corn on the cob, peas, bread, cucumbers, sometimes green beans, sometimes cucumbers, and maybe every now and then broccoli) We have been trying all the time to get him to try new things and finally got him to try carrots the other day, but he complains that they are too cold (even if I give them to him at room temperature now!)  Other than eating struggles, Brooks is a pretty happy little boy.  He loves to run around outside, loves Cheyenne, loves Veggie Tales, and still loves his iPod :).  He makes us laugh everyday with new expressions he says or comes up with.  I will try and take the time to write some down here in the next few weeks and put them up here!

Anyway, not much has been going on in our lives the past couple weeks out of the ordinary, so here are just some pictures from our daily 'routines'.
Keely loves her playmat and is starting to really 'play' with the toys on it

 Meal time....always a struggle, but a good time for Blake to catch up with Brooks on what happened during the day

 Keely got in on some story times this week

 Brooks loves to jump!

 My pretty girl....

 Keely still loves her bath time!

 We had Brooks hold Keely the other night.  He had fun, not sure Keely enjoyed it a lot, but it was pretty cute!

Both kids really like the Bumpo we are borrowing from a friend.  I actually think Brooks enjoys it more.  Can't believe the kid still fits in it! Oh well, it's like a new 'toy' for him!  He thought it was hilarious to put the Bumpo on the chair....After I got my picture, he was told it was not funny and not to do it again!

 Keely does a good job sitting in it, and it's nice to have a place for her to sit up without holding her!