Brandon's First basketball Game

Last night was Brandon's first basketball game. He got to play 2 quarters (2nd and 3rd). The other players passed him the ball a few times but he didn't score any points, but I was so proud of him anyway. He really hustled and tried to "be there" for his other teammates. I was really kindof worried when at practice they started scrimmaging because Brandon is not very agressive and is more passive. And so I thought that he may never get any B ball action because of this. He can shoot the ball.. don't get me wrong, but I worry sometimes about his competitiveness. So I have been talking to him about really getting around his defenders and trying to get up there where the ball is in case they need to pass it. I think it helped because they passed him the ball more in the game than they do at practice! I was so proud. His team, The Hornets, lost last night. But I think they all had fun, and that's the main thing.

So far I haven't seen any over-the-top competitive obnoxious parents who scream at thier kids at the top of thier lungs or yells and bad mouths the other children on the team for doing something wrong. The ones who must think that thier children are future professional athletic money making machines. I'm sure there are some out there who will be pro basketball players and what not, but don't verbally abuse your kids and others on the team because of your dream for them. Am I right? Sorry, I got off on a tangent there. But it was fun and the main thing that I want Brandon to do is learn teamwork, counting on others and have them count on him, and of course to have fun.

The score ended 18-5. As I said before, Brandon's team lost. But the 5 points scored by our team were scored by our friends Thomas and Amy's little boy and it was so cute to see the glow on thier faces when thier little boy looked up in the bleachers at them like hey mom, did you see that! Oh, they were so proud and it made me so happy that I got to see thier faces in that moment. Anywho, below are some pictures of Brandon playing.

Brandon has the ball!

Blue #11

Daddy and Brodie at the game. Brodie's eating a snack.

Good Stuff

Last night I let Brodie try to use a spoon for the first time! He did great. After he tried to scoop the food onto the spoon and couldn't, he started picking the food up and putting it on the spoon and then into his mouth. Cute!

Brandon is a real manly man because he needs two remotes to watch TV! He's watching his shows that we record for him every day; Truth or Scare and Mystery Hunters. They are kid oriented Discovery shows that he really enjoys and they are also educational. But, shhh.. don't tell him that part!

The Jeep

Yesterday was a warmer day, it got up to 60 degrees, but the sun was not shining. That's too bad because I love the sunshine. I had Matthew yesterday, and since it was a warm day I wanted to take the boys out to play in Brodie's new power wheels Jeep that papa and nanny Vick got Brodie for Christmas. When I say play, I mean that I sat them in there and they didn't know what to do. They looked at me like are you crazy? what the hell are we supposed to do with this! Anyway, well at least I got the pictures.

So it was off to other things. They were too busy for the Jeep this time, but I'm sure with practice they will soon realize that they can drive it themselves and that crazy mommy person will stop leaning over them trying to push the damn gas pedal for them all the while trying to get her feet out of the way before they get ran over.

Jay was home with us so he actually came outside to help me play with the boys. They wanted to eat, I mean play with the rocks in the driveway, as you can see in one of the above pictures. Although, you may have a hard time seeing Brodie what with his camouflage disguising him and all. They also loved playing with the neighbor's dog, Kelsey through the chain link fence. Brodie giggled everytime the dog licked his hand, and Matthew got a big french kiss from her. I know, gross. But it was cute and they had fun with her. Oh and they wanted to see-saw so Jay and I held each of the children on one end and they had fun with that, but I ended up dropping Brodie. Yes once again, Mother of the year, right here!

But I have an excuse, Brodie had a really runny nose and I was trying to wipe it with the inside of my shirt, and then he just fell off. Even though I was holding onto him with the other hand. He's tough though, so he didn't cry.

So, that was pretty much our adventure with the Jeep.

Brandon came home really excited yesterday afternoon. (sorry I don't have pictures, he's waay too busy for that) He recieved 2 awards for his acedemic performance last six weeks. I thought that saounded fancy! Ayways, he recieved one certificate for most improved, and the other was a Stallion Star award, which is the equivelent of honor roll or whatever means all E's and S+'s. I am so proud of him ya'll! I didn't go to awards day to see him get them because a.) I had Matthew and Brodie, and no thanks, I don't want to sit there for an hour with two toddlers, and b.) becasue I didn't know that he would be getting one. They didn't send home the little paper that tells the parents about it like they did last year. But oh well, he was excited and came skipping out to the car with them. Did I mention how proud I am of him?

Well, so that was our day!

A little sunshine in my life!

Today was a beautiful day! After being cooped up for weeks in the stale air in my house, the germs and the funk. We decided that today was warm enough to go out and play. It has been below freezing outside FOREVER, and today the temp got up to the mid 50's. The sun was shining for once.

After I picked Brandon up from school we came straight home and headed out the door. Brandon went to play with one of his neighborhood friends and Brodie and I went for a walk. I took him in his stroller down the street to the playground. (we're not really supposed to play there since technically we don't live in that neighborhood, but we did anyway, we broke the law).

I pushed Brodie on the swing and he loved it, and he slid down the slide. There was another mommy there with her almost 2 year old little boy and we chatted while playing with the kids.

Brodie and I had a lot of fun. We played for about an hour and then headed back home. When we got home, Brodie was not yet ready to come in so we played in the yard for a few more minutes.

Brandon came back home shortly after. I usually give him a certain time that he needs to be home. So he came in and was really worried about being late, although he was actually early. He said, "mom, I'm sorry I'm late, but I have an excuse. My pants leg got caught in the chain on my bike and I couldn't get it out. So I had to flag down this lady and she helped me get my pantsleg out of the chain." Me, "what?!! You flagged down a stranger! You know you're not supposed to talk to strangers!" But what else could he do? I wasn't around to see that he got his pants stuck and he couldn't go anywhere like that. Yes, I know, the mother of the year award should go to me! I told him he needs to quit riding that piece of crap bike that he bought off of a boy that lives in our neighborhood and ride the one we spent good money on. Oh well, I guess I will have to remind him every time he goes out to play not to ride the crappy one, but the good one to his friends house.

Well, I got over it and then the boys had a snack in the rocking chair. So it was a wonderful day for us all! Tomorrow it is supposed to be 60 degrees and sunny, so we are going to break out the power wheels Jeep that papa and nanny Vick gave to Brodie for Christmas. I will post pictures of that tomorrow.

Inauguration Day Jan. 20, 2009

Today history was made! The first African-American was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America! I am very proud that I live in a time where this was made possible. I am also very proud that my children live in this great country and they have an example that with hard work and big dreams, that they can be and do anything that they think possible. Today is proof of that. I wanted to take pictures of my children today because someday they may want to see the photos of themselves as history was being made. Brodie, Matthew, my sister and I all watched the inauguration ceremonies on T.V. I was moved to tears several times.

Brandon said that at school today they all got to watch this on T.V as well. I am so glad for that. I think that he will remember this day. Also, his whole class got to write a letter to President Obama, and he was really excited about it. I wish I could have a copy of that letter or at least know what he wrote. How exciting!!

I never knew that in my lifetime there would actually be a black president I am proud to live in a country with so much diversity and love for one another. So I wanted to write this as part of my on line journal, for my kids.

This is the second very historical event that has happened since I have been a mother. When Brandon was Brodie's age, the tragedies on September 11, 2001 was happening. I remember what we were doing that day, and how I felt, and the way the light came through the window.. that was not good history, but history none the less. Today, my youngest son, Brodie is about the same age Brandon was when that tragedy happened, and though the history being made today is much happier, I will remember what we were doing, how I felt, and how the light shined through my windows.

I am so glad to live in this great country with my family and friends. Let freedom ring!

God Bless America!!!

Just pictures

Brodie dumped out all of his toys and sat in the basket

A surprise visit from papa

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were pretty interesting days for us here in the house of Warren. On Tuesday, Karen and Matthew came to visit. I babysit Matthew 1-3 days a week to make extra money and to help out his parents. They are good friends of ours. Brodie was acting very fussy that day and did not want me to put him down and he was sleeping for long periods of time pretty much all day. And he started running a fever.

I was supposed to keep Matthew on Wednesday, but I couldn't because Brodie was sick and I didn't want Matthew to catch anything. I was so exhausted from getting almost no sleep the night before because Brodie wanted to be held all night. By the time my alarm clock went off to get Brandon ready for school, I could not make myself get out of bed, and also Brodie was finally asleep. I went back to sleep. Brandon stayed home with me, so he got to play hookey! I know that this seems like a really bad example, but with the bitter cold and my baby running a fever and not getting any sleep the night before, I just couldn't bear to take them out of the house.

Then my mother called and told me that she took my 15 year old brother, Levi to get his braces off and he wasn't going back to school that day, so he came and hung out with me all day. He played hookey too.

My sister, Jenna called and said that she had taken a personal day at work and wanted to know if she could come hang out with us too. She kindof played hookey also!

Later on, my father-in-law, aka papa, called and said that he was in Nashville headed back home to Georgia and wanted to know if he could stop by and get some kisses from Brodie before he left town. This was such a nice surprise for us and I'm so glad that he stopped by. Even though it was only for a few minutes. So, it's good that Brandon played hookey because papa got to see him too!

Thursday, Brodie had his 15 month well baby visit at the pediatrician. He had to get two shots. Poor thing. He did really well with the first shot b/c the nurse gave him a sucker before she started. She stuck him with the needle and he just looked around, and then went back to his sucker. He didn't even cry! I was like, why haven't they ever given him a sucker before?! People, that is the trick. Just give them a sucker and they won't care about the shot. That's good to know now that he's almost done with his infant vaccinations. That figures!

All is well now in the house of Warren. I babysat Matthew today and he and Brodie played/ faught, all day long. Now Brodie is exhausted and has fallen asleep in his high chair.

Say Cheese

Brodie has been saying a lot of words lately and in this picture I got him to say cheese! He said "chee." How cute, right? Well, the kid never looks at the camera when you want him to, and hardly ever smiles knowingly at the camera. But in this one he did. So I thought today I would write about some of the cute things that he can say. And something really cute that Brandon said the other day too.

Those times are rare now because he is getting so much older, so I want to remember the cute things he says while he still says them.

Here is a list of the words that Brodie can say in his cute baby babble and imperfect enunciations: He can say ball; bath; book; light; dog; cheese; bite; something that sounds like Brandon; momma; daddy; outside; shoe; socks; shoo; juice; and trash. those are the main words that he can say right now.

The other night we were sitting at the table having dinner and Brandon was telling us about his future plans, what he wants to do when he grows up, etc. He has been on a kick lately where he says that he wants to be a clothing designer. He has even drawn some really cool pictures with some of his designs on them. I know, I know, it sounds strange for a boy his age to want to do this but if you know Brandon, then you know that he loves to draw and he loves art. So we were sitting at the table and this is what the coversation was like:



Brandon: "Mom, you know how my tractor can knock down trees with his bulldozier?"

(for those of you who don't know, tractor is what he calls his paternal grandfather, he has called him that since he first learned to talk and he did it on his own.)



Me: "yeah, why?"

Brandon: "well, maybe he can knock down some trees and build us a store out of the logs and me and you can make our own business."

Me: "what kind of business?"

Brandon: "we can desiogn and make our own clothes and sell them."

Me: "??"

Jay: "huh"

Brandon: " yeah, all I have to do is learn how to niddle!"

HAHA! He said that so seriously and Jay and I laughed so hard! Learn how to niddle.

Instead of Knit! We haven't heard him say anything quite so cute in such a long time.

So there it is, the cute things my kids say.

It looks good to me

This is a picture of the daily mess in our house. No matter how many times I pick the toys up they will immediately be scattered throughout the house again in a matter of minutes. This usually frustrates me and can sometimes make me anxious. I like order so chaos really freys my nerves. Here lately my house has looked disasterous because of all of the toys that my 15 month old son loves to drag out. So I was looking at the mess and decided that this is what I would write about today. When I took this picture I had a flashback of the first time my oldest son Brandon and I went to meet Jay's mom and step-dad, who live about 3 hours or so west from us. So it was an overnight trip. Needless to say I was very nervous about this first meeting and what they would think of me. Mainly becouse I was afraid that they would think that I had too much baggage for Jay. A divorce and a two year old and only 21 years old. Okay, so this sets the scene and now back to the story, and my point.

Jay's parents were very nice and I felt at home and comfortable around them right away, but I was still nervous about how they would react to Brandon and his messy messyness. Brandon had made a big mess in the floor of her beautiful livingroom with the toys that we brought and whatever else he could get his hands on. I was very nervous about this and I told my now mother in law that I was sorry that he was making such a big mess and assured her that I would clean it up as soon as he was finished playing. I knew that the mess bothered me so I thought surely it bothered her too. But you know what she said? With a big smile on here face she looked at me and said, "it looks good to me!" And I thought that was very sweet of her, and I really haven't thought much about that since... until today.

As I said before I was feeling overwhelmed by the mess when I took this picture and I was going to complain about it a little. But when I had that flashback I realized what my mother in law meant when she said those words. I realized that after a few very short years, I won't have two little boys playing and dragging out all of thier toys and making huge messes. It had been a long time since that had happened in her house. And I realized that today. I will try not to take this for granted. One day, I will miss these messes. So you know what?! It looks good to me!!

A flashback from earlier this week

I posted this blog entry on Mysapce earlier this week and I thought it was funny so I decided to share it all with you. Man, kids grow up way too fast!

Wednesday January 7, 2009

So today I picked Brandon up from school, he's in the 2nd grade and he's 8 years old, and I asked him how his day was. He said "my day was awesome"! I said "oh, yeah, what was awesome about it"? He said, " well, there are 2 girls that like me at school and one of them is a twin"!! And the other girl is her bestfriend. He went on to tell me that they both sit near him at lunch, 2 classes share a lunchroom at the same time. He also told me that he was nervous telling me about it so I told him it's ok to tell me stuff like that.
I suppose next year he'll be kissing, who knows! I am so not ready for this!!

Busy Day

Today was a very busy and weird day for us. I woke up late at 8:30 this morning, I say it was late because I had to take a shower and get myself and both of the boys ready for Brandon's basketball practice. It started at 10:00. So I got Brodie out of my bed. Once again he woke up in the middle of the night and ended up in bed with us, and put him in his highchair to give him breakfast. I gave Jay the duty of changing him when he was done eating while I took a shower. When I say changing him I mean change his diaper and put his clothes on so I could have a few extra minutes to get ready. Jay didn't go with us to practice because he got to go see the Titans get beat by the Ravens. Damn. Anyways, so the boys and myself are ready to go to practice as you can see in the pictures, Brandon is really excited about basketball. He is in the blue.

So about 45 minutes into the practice I am holding Brodie against me standing up talking to my friend Amy, her son is on our son's team. I am holding Brodie and I feel something warm and wet come through my shirt. Oh. My. God. I think to myself as I pull him away from me. And yes, he peed all over me and I have no idea how this can possibly happen. Especially since he wears Huggies brand diapers. And just so you know, I had no extra baby clothes with me. I know, I know, I should be more prepared. I only had diapers and wipes. I laid him down on my coat on the bleachers at the school, and as I am changing him I saw that he still had the same daiper on that he had on last night! The diaper had no more absorbancy left in it. And I realised that this is Jay's fault. He didn't change the diaper. Oh and to make it even worse, we both had our Titans apparell on and now we can't wear it because of the pee smell. Amy and I cleaned him up as much as we could with no extra clothes and the few diaper wipes that I had and waited for practice to be over. Not to worry, I let Jay know what had happened as soon as I was able, hee hee.

After practice we had to rush home and get Brodie in the bathtub and change his clothes to get ready to go to a baby shower. That was fun. Both Brandon and Brodie had to go with me, but they were both very good. We left a little early so we could get home to watch the Titans game. If you watched it then you know they lost. So needless to say, I am exhausted and I think I will have to have a bottle of wine.. or two. Just kidding, but maybe a couple of glasses wouldn't hurt.

So that was my busy, funny, weird day.

My First Posting

Hello everyone,



This is my very first posting on my very first blog and I am super excited to be doing this. My best friend Ashley at http://www.mrs007.com/. has been writing a blog for about a year or so now and has been encouraging me to this. So here I am Ashley and world or whoever else wants to read about us!

I am currently a stay at home mom and I love it! My amazing husband Jay works very hard for me to be able to do this. I have an 8 year old son, Brandon, from a previous marraige, and Jay and I had our first child together in September, 2007. His name is Brodie. They are both awesome kids and we love them very much.

So, this is it. I don't have much to write about today, but hopefully tomorrow I'll have something interesting to write about. I hope you will come back to my page and read about us again soon!