A Few of Our Recent Favorites!!!

Couchbed Friday nights. The splash game. Zach's first encounter with playdoh. Zach in the box.

Zachy Bear

So our Zachary Thomas is now 13.5 months old and is living large, I mean L-A-R-G-E!!! He is now over 28 pounds and feels like every pound of it each time I pick him up. He is a cute little guy with an adorable smile and an infectious laugh! I absolutely love it when his Papa Daddy gets him laughing by tickling his neck with kisses!

Poor Zach is going through a tough time right now... He's wanting to talk, but he can't quite get his desires vocalized. He's wanting to walk , but his little legs probably aren't quite strong enough to support his 28 pounds. He wants to play with all the toys his brother does, but unfortunately big bro isn't the greatest at sharing his favorite toys (and this too shall pass, right???). He loves to climb, but doesn't understand why Mommy won't let him at the steps. And oh, did I mention that he is cutting ALL OF HIS MOLARS right now??? Poor kiddo!!! Serenity now!!!

All that to say, he is a sweet little guy that loves to explore and is amazingly apt at entertaining himself right up until Mommy starts preparing dinner! I'm loving my time with Zach in the mornings that Nate has preschool. It's fun to sit down and have some playtime with just him and being able to focus on just him. The other day I took him to the park and was able to walk him around to all the pint-sized attractions we normally don't have time for when I'm trying to keep up with Nate, too. We had the best time swinging, climbing and sliding! I love my little bear!

Can You Say "PACHYCEPHALOSAURUS?"

Nate can!

Nate had his first Show and Tell today. At the preschool open house a couple of weeks ago, Nate was given a brown lunch bag to take home and decorate and today was his scheduled day to bring it in filled with some of his favorite items to share with his class. Nate took this order very seriously and stuffed that little brown lunch bag full of his favorite goodies! Items included you might ponder??? Hot chocolate mix, his M&M hot chocolate mug, Thomas the Train, Gordon, and Henry, Quackly (a teenie beenie babie from a McDonald's Happy Meal), and his dinosaur "bath sticks."

"What in the world are bath sticks?" you are probably asking yourself right now. I believe in most other homes they are commonly referred to as "grow capsules." You know, the little plastic capsules with sponge shapes inside that grow larger as the plastic casing dissolves away in the water. Nate coined the term "bath sticks" the instant he saw them months and months ago in the Target One Spot and now has several of his buddies referring to them as the same. Anyway, Nate is slightly obsessed with his bath sticks and the other night right before bath time he asked if he could keep them in their wrapper so he could carry them around with him for a few more days. So that is how they ended up in his Show and Tell bag. The funny thing is that this is the second round of dinosaur bath sticks we have purchased from Target. Yes, we were conned by new packaging of the same old merchandise. The first set we had listed all of the names of the 12 dinosaurs on the back. This set did not, but Nate can still tell you what they are: Pteranodon, dimetrodon, stegosaurus, anklyosaurus, iguanodon, velociraptor, parasaurolophus, etc. and my personal favorite, the pachycephalosaurus. It is one of the most hilarious things I have every heard to hear my little 3 year old son say clear as day a word most adults would have a hard time saying, "pachycephalosaurus." Try it, it's not the easiest word to roll off your tongue!

Nate's First Day of Preschool!!!

Well, Nate the Great started preschool last week and he is absolutely loving every minute of it!!! He walked right in without glancing back!!! I did much better dropping him off for his first day then I ever imagined. Jamie took some time off from work that morning to come with us, but more as a support for me than my boy. I kept it together and managed to drop him off without shedding a tear... I comforted myself with a mocha from the Starbucks right across the street from Nate's preschool on the way home (That's probably not going to be good for our budget... Way too convenient!).

Nate's teacher's name is Ms. Rachael and she seems really sweet. Last Thursday when I picked him up from school, she said "Wow, he's so smart! He counted all the way to 22 without even pausing!" Of course I was bursting with pride inside and wanted to shout, "I know, he's brilliant!" or "He only counted to 22, because he can actually count up to 30!" I instead managed a small, polite "thanks" instead.

I think it's going to be a wonderful year! I absolutely love hearing what he did every day at school from his point of view... I love the way he describes things! So far his favorite activity has been playing with the "super cool basketball toy." He's definitely his father's son!

Guess who's ONE???

Wagon Ride

Zach took his first wagon ride Sunday night with his big brother. Nate has been desiring a wagon ride for some time now, so we decided to try it out. We weren't too sure how Zach would do since he just started to sit up on his own, but he absolutely loved it!!! He looked so cute with his arms straight out to his side balancing himself. We can't believe that he is already 7 months old!!!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!!!

We celebrated Nate's birthday early on Saturday afternoon with several of his little buddies. Nate turns 3 on January 28th and Kate Flynn turned 2 on January 25th, so Christy and I decided to celebrate their birthdays together with a Mickey and Minnie themed party. We searched for Pluto's missing bones, played "Pin the Nose on Mickey," ate Mickey Mouse cupcakes, and opened a bunch of fun, fun gifts! Nate and Kate had a blast!!! The cutest part was watching all the kids walk around in the Mickey and Minnie ears Christy and I had made for them. Adorable!!! Nate's favorite gift was his air hockey table from Nana and Pops, and he loved his basketball goal from Mommy and Daddy and, of course, his green froggy boots that he has yet to take off!!! We ended the day with a fun and hectic trip to Chuck E. Cheese with Nana, Pops, Uncle Andy, Aunt Lizzy and his cousins, Sydney, Joshua, Emma. FYI... Don't ever take your children to Chuck E. Cheese at 5:30 on a Saturday night unless you enjoy feeling chlosterphobic!!! Thanks to all who helped celebrate Nate's birthday!

The 2009 Winter "Storm"

Well, it actually snowed in Raleigh... I think it ended up being about 6 inches or so. Of course many schools and businesses closed or allowed their employees to work from home, but not Stewart Engineering. Jamie's company sent out a reminder e-mail about there snow policy, saying that there is no policy and to come to work... So Mommy, Nate and Zach were left to enjoy the snow together. I layered Nate in pjs, pants, long sleeve t-shirt, sweatshirt, coat, two pairs of socks, mittens, tennis shoes and 2 Wal-Mart bags wrapped around each foot and while Zach took his morning nap we ventured out into the cold. Nate had a blast stomping through the snow, throwing snowballs, sledding and trying to build a snowman. But his favorite part of the snow was his early birthday present from the Flynns... a pair of green froggy rain boots! Praise God because the Wal-Mart bags were getting left behind in his little snowy footprints!!! Nate loved playing in the snow in his new boots with the Flynn girls and has yet to wear another pair of shoes since last Tuesday... Thanks again Chip, Christy, Emmy and Kate for the sweet gift!!! After our snow-capades we ventured in for hot chocolate, warming up by the fire, naptime and reading time for Mommy. It was such a fun and lazy afternoon! Jamie eventually came home a bit early and took Nate back out for round two where they successfully built our snowman and Nate quickly learned not to take his gloves off while trying to help! Zach made his first snow appearance Wednesday afternoon and seemed to enjoy it, as much as he could. I think he just really likes being outside!

I'm not the best blogger...

Ok, so I'm not the best blogger in the world... I'm no Cheri Windley or Jen Joyner for sure! In my defense, I will say that I've been a bit busy! A newborn, moving, cleaning up spit up, unpacking, Thanksgiving, cleaning up spit up, and Christmas... I've had a bit going on and I also discovered "Facebook" which has taken up a little bit of my free time. Yes, after months of making fun of my friends "friends" I took the plunge! Anywho... Onto better and brighter moments from the past 51/2 months of the Brueggeman family life.

Zach... What can I say except that he is 99.8% perfect!!! So, you're asking whats the .2%? He spits up JUST LIKE HIS BROTHER!!! So to all of you who said that surely it won't happen a second time, IT DID!!! In his defense, I must say that he is absolutely adorable and having hardwoods downstairs in our new home and a much darker carpet upstairs makes cleaning spit up a much, much easier task! He is such a good baby... sleeps well, eats well, coos, smiles, laughs, and absolutely loves his big brother. When Nate is in the room, Zach is almost always watching everything he does. I love the way they already interact, it gives me a glimpse of what's to come and makes me so excited! They're going to be the best buddies!!! Zach is also starting to eat solid foods... at least applesauce and oatmeal. Per the pediatrician's suggestion, we started trying at 4 months and he was not ready! So we've been trying every few weeks to see if he would eat. Last week we had a breakthrough with applesauce, but not so much with peas!

Nate... Our big almost 3 (on the 28th) year old... my how time flies! He has grown up so much the past few months! He's absolutely wonderful with Zach and is constantly asking if Zach is "getting bigger yet?" He can't wait to play with him! He loves to make funny faces and Zach laughs at him each time... A shout out to Jay Joyner for teaching him his favorite funny face, where you make circles with your fingers and turn them backwards over your eyes like glasses. Sadly, he no longer says "eh-hay" for yes or "sure do, sure will, sure can." My favorite words now are "Starbooks" for Starbucks and "Breexer Box" for his boxer briefs underware. After joining the Marbles children's museum, Nate has discovered a possible profession if the NBA doesn't pan out... A UPS delivery man. The museum has a spot where kids can load the back of a truck with packages and Nate loves it! He also loves the "water bazibit" where he splashes and soaks himself in pure delight!!! He loves basketball, Mickey Mouse, hotwheels, Chuck E. Cheese, bowling, hot chocolate, Hungry, Hungry, Hippo and Emily Flynn.

As for Jamie and I, we love our new family and new home. It's been wonderful settling in and knowing that this is where we plan on raising our family. Our first Christmas here was so special and we loved every minute of being together and starting our own traditions! Living next door to our great friends the Flynns has also been wonderful! Nate, Emily and Kate all play so well together and Jamie and I love, love, love Chip and Christy! Adjusting to this side of Raleigh has been a bit difficult since there is no Barnes & Noble, Starbucks, Homegoods, Five Guys or mall anywhere near us. However, there is a brand spanking new Super Wal-Mart which makes everything in our new little Brueggeman world ok!!! Also, another shout out to Lynn Chandler (our newest soon-to-be next door neighbor) for introducing me to my new favorite author, Karen Kingsbury. She has a series of five books entitled the "Redemption" series. If you haven't read them, you MUST!

Love to all our friends and family! I promise to try and keep up with my blogging, but with an EXTREMELY active 3 year old and a 6 month old that spits up 1/3 of his formula intake every day I have a feeling I might start my next post with, "It's been a while since I blogged..."