The Culp Family: April 2009

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

The Circus!

We took the boys to the circus last night... a first for them AND for me. The show didn't start until 7:30, so we left Lyla at home with Gramma. It was weird not having a baby with us.... we've never gone ANYWHERE without a diaper bag and a stroller. Not even back when it was just us and Brodey. By the time he started walking I was already miserable sick with Brock, and by the time Brock started walking I was already pregnant and sick with Lyla. We've never had such an easy time out with the kids! (no offence Lyla, we still missed you)

Anyhow, we had a GREAT time. Brodey went on his first ever fairiswheel ride with me (or steering wheel, as he called it). I was surprised he wasn't afraid.... not even at the very top. He loved it and laughed the whole time.

On the way home I asked what their favorite part was:

"when the clown got shot and his pants came off!"

(that's not what really happened... but fun to hear how it looked to them)

Extreme Safety continues

A few weeks ago Jeff ran over Brodey's bike with his truck. Gramma came to the rescue earlier this week and took Brodey to the store to buy a new one.... they picked out a red one because that is Brodey's favorite color and it's a "Rock-it" and "goes super fast". He also came home with a new helmet. And knee pads. AND elbow pads. I was thinking all that was a little excessive, until today when he added the life jacket too. I guess you just never know when there might be a flood.

We have discussed taking those training wheels off.... but Brodey isn't convinced that's safe yet. Maybe soon.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Never can be too careful

Yes... that is his underwear

Safety first... that's what I always say. I like the extra precautions Brodey took while swimming in his backyard pool.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

A new way to shop

I made Lyla a new shopping cart/highchair cover so we tried it out! I think she really enjoyed her new view on things at the grocery store. (and it was much easier than my normal method of pushing the double stroller with Brock and Lyla with my left hand and pulling Brodey in the shopping cart with my right.) I can't wait to show her how exciting it is at Target!

Brock, of course, thought this was a fantastic new way to shop.

Brodey fell asleep. At the grocery store. That was definitely a first for us. (yes, that is a loaf of bread on his back. There is a flaw in my system... where to put the groceries???)

We tried her new highchair cover in a restaurant Saturday night. She wasn't quite ready for that... it was fun for a few minutes but then wanted to be held. She does much better in her infant seat in restaurants... probably because we pile toys in there with her and she has an easier time holding her sippy cup when leaned back.

T-ball

me: "BROCK! I just signed you up for T-Ball!!"

Brock: (very excited) "I will play t-ball with Bwodey? I will use a bat!! And a golf club!!"

Obviously we have a few basics to go over before the season starts.

Play date

Brodey went on his first ever play date without me on Thursday. Joey's mom (Brodey's most favorite buddy from school.. the one with the "big yellow hair") first asked if Brodey could come over sometime around the kids Valentine's party. Apparently Joey talks about Brodey as much as Brodey talks about Joey. I don't know Joey's family so I wasn't thrilled about the idea. Since then I have talked to Joey's mom several times on the phone and of course had seen her at every school event. She's a very nice lady. Joey even sent Brodey a postcard from his vacation in Arizona... mail is a big hit in this house. So finally (after secretly driving by Joey's house) we agreed on a date. I dropped him off after school and she was going to drive him home after two hours.
One hour in I called to check on him.... no answer. I left a message and then waited 10 minutes. In a semi-panic I called my sister and Jeff to to see if I should yank Brock and Lyla up from their naps and go check on things (did I mention I was nervous?), but before I could do that she called me back. Everything was fine.. they were outside.
Anyhow.. he made it home fine.... had a blast. And now when we pass Joey's neighborhood Brodey yells "member when I played at Joey's house???!!! I should do that again!!"

Friday, April 17, 2009

Learning to self feed

This video is almost 2 minutes long and probably only funny to me. But I LOVE it. She's so funny.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Lyla's first Easter

Easter was so much fun! The weather was beautiful. In the morning we hunted Easter baskets (the Easter bunny was sneaky and put Brodey's up on top of a bookshelf. Brodey said he must have "hopped really really high to get it up there.") and then headed to Church.

After Church we went to Gramma and Grampa's for another egg hunt and a big feast.

Lyla hung out with grampa during the egg hunt. Then she took a nap for most of the afternoon.

Uncle Myles and Kali spent the morning washing Kali's jeep... and then let the kids crawl all around in it like it was a giant jungle gym.

The three boys spent the whole afternoon exploring the woods around the house... they had a blast.

Cedarcrest Egg Hunt 2009

Saturday morning we went to the egg hunt/carnival at our Church. There were over 30,000 eggs to hunt! The kids had so much fun.

Lyla's friend Maddy came too!

Brodey, Maddy, AJ, Lyla and Brock

After the egg hunt we had some lunch...

and played on the jumpies

Easter Egg coloring

We colored Easter eggs Thursday night before Easter. We have three kids... so we thought 9 eggs would be plenty. My sister has one kid and she dyed 4.5 dozen, obviously she is much more fun than me.

Brock had no patience for the wire egg holder thing... he would just reach in there and yell "I caught it!" Egg dye was everywhere.

6..... I mean 7 month pictures

I finally got around to getting Lyla's pictures taken again... obviously I didn't buy all these poses.. but I have the disk, so I went a little overboard uploading them. It was just too hard to decide!!

She really gets me with that "grampa face". I love it!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Parent Teacher Conference

I went to Brodey's school a couple of weeks ago for his parent teacher conference and keep forgetting to post about it!
It went very well. His teacher had a folder full of work Brodey had done for us to over together. He did excellent! Matching numbers, writing his name, knowing big and little, tracing, cutting, matching colors, sorting, etc. She said he has not good, but GREAT social and motor skills, oral and listening skills, and reading and math readiness skills. She said he does especially well "in the visual-spatial intelligence". I didn't tell her I didn't know what that meant!
She also said he was strong in these two areas:
1. Logical/Mathematical: These children think logically. They like experiments, puzzles, sorting, collections, and figuring out things.
2. Spatial: These children like pictures. They enjoy art, drawing, and creatively using their imaginations.
She also observed him being afraid of heights. I already knew this. And I'm afraid too... we understand each other.
I am very proud of my Brodey! It felt a little weird that I have a kid old enough to need a parent/teacher conference.... but it was fun, I look forward to more! (Unless I start getting bad reports... in which case I'll be sending Jeff!)

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

The movers

Grandpa got a new job in South Georgia and hired these three to help him move...

Monday, April 6, 2009

7 months!!

Baby girl is 7 months old! Not much new going on.... still no teeth, but her gums aren't puffy anymore and she's doesn't seem to be teething so we are all happy!

She has been trying some new foods... puffs, cheerios, even some black beans and rice from her Uncle Travis. So far she's not too picky!

Unfortunately she has a few favorite toys.... a blue helicopter and a ninja turtle. I have been so excited about buying girl toys and she just wants what the boys have!

She is little miss independent.... drinking from her sippy cup....

This is her "grandpa" smile... he makes this face at her a lot
She eats (plays with) cheerios...
No attempts at crawling yet... although I used to wonder how she managed to move all around her crib at night and gather all the dolls and teddy bears into one corner. We painted her crib over the weekend and had her sleep in our bed while it dried.... and we discovered her secret. It seems she has a little playtime every night from about 1am to 2am. She kicks her feet around and can move herself anywhere she wants to. In her bed she gathers toys, in our bed she pulls hair and grabs noses. Fortunately for her she is very cute and snugly and can get away with such nonsense.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Preschool Easter Party

Jeff surprised Brodey today at school and came for his Easter party. Brodey was so excited to see him! He turned around and said "Hi mom" to me, but when he saw Jeff he got a huge smile on his face and yelled "daddy's here!!!" It was so cute. Daddy's get all the excitement!!

That kid next to Brodey at the table, the one with all the hair... that's Brock. He held back at this party... not his normal wild man self. (of course... when I finally have an extra set of hands around to help me at one of these parties Brock suddenly turns into the most laid back, well mannered kid in the group!)

Brodey's classmates

Ms. Patty helped Brock make a craft.

I heard Brodey say to one of his friends, "Hudson, come see my baby sista!!"

One of Brodey's favorite buddies at school is "Joey". I asked him once what Joey looked like and he said, (with hand motions and lots of expression) "He has BBBBIIIIIGGGG yellow hair" Then one day Joey must have had a hair cut because now Brodey says, "Joey doesn't have big yellow hair anymore.... now it's just twirly."

Of course I had to take a video....