Well, Keith and I have some pretty exciting news that I hope to be sharing on here shortly! But for now, I will talk about all the other happenings around the Becker household. Bradyn is doing well in school so far. We enrolled him in an afterschool imagination class where they children get to dress up, "go" different places, and make up all kinds of stories. Bradyn has a wild imagination, and Mommy can always use an extra hour on Mondays, so this sounded like a good fit for him (us). I think he is really enjoying it. This year has been interesting so far; Bradyn is actually having homework. I'm getting a small taste of what it's going to be like next year having to pull teeth to get homework done. Exhausting. Ha ha ha.

I have a meeting with the speech therapist at one of the elementary schools tomorrow to determine how often Bradyn is going to be receiving speech therapy. I couldn't believe he actually qualified! For the school to be able to help a child out, there has to be a disability that significantly affects his ability to learn. Well, that clearly isn't necessarily the case. He does have a problem with his speech, but he is SO SMART, so I thought we would be turned down. Well, it turns out, after testing, Bradyn scored a 120 in the comprehension part. The speech therapist said a "normal" score is between 70-100, most children his age are around 100. He scored a 120!!!! Wow! He scored a 119 on the language part... which basically means he has the vocabulary of a 6 year old.... ya, and he's not even 5 yet! In the articulation part, he had 29 errors (out of I-don't-know-how-many), which is not actually low enough to be considered impaired, but the speech therapist has still recommended speech therapy for him on a walk-in basis. The reason for that is: she said in trying to have a conversation with him, he is "unintelligible." It hurt to hear someone say that about my baby, but it's true. And it doesn't mean he's not intelligent, it means: "Being such that understanding or comprehension is difficult or impossible; incomprehensible" which YES! that hits the nail on the head. I'm going to have a meeting with the therapist and a few other people tomorrow to discuss how often and for how long Bradyn will get help (per week I guess?)

Well, it's getting late, so I'm going to get ready for bed.

I'm obviously pathetic....

...at blogging. Ok, after saying last year that I would make more of an effort to blog, and then not doing it, I really did let the blog go by the wayside after a few months. I thought, "I just really don't have time to do it." Which is kind of true, but after reading back on some old blog posts the other day, and laughing and crying, I thought, "I may not have time for this, but I need to MAKE time for this." There are just too many precious memories to not do it! When something priceless happens, you think you'll never forget it, but alas, it happens. Life keeps going. Things keep happening. My mind keeps slipping. Really! I'll probably be one of those little old ladies who has Alzheimer's, because right now I think I'm one of those little not-so-old ladies who has Alzheimer's! I used to have one heck of a good memory, but kids have changed that. No doubt, keeping up with phone numbers, grocery lists, social security numbers, shot records, birthdays, doctor appointments, dentist appointments, all other kinds of appointments, school days, T-Ball practice, T-Ball games, bunco, MOMS club activities, playgroup dates, due dates for bills, ya da ya da ya da, I could go on and on.... so, a datebook these days is a must. My pea-brain can't remember it all anymore. If I don't have your birthday on my calendar, I cannot be held responsible for forgetting it (thank goodness Facebook reminds me!)

Anyways, the kids are doing good. It was a long, fun (and exhausting) summer, and Bradyn is starting his last year of preschool tomorrow. Amen. I feel so bad when I say that, but boy, that kiddo is sure giving us a run for our money. Bradyn is so smart and loving, but we're experiencing some really bad behavioral problems with him. I don't want to go into too much detail on here; it's exhausting to deal with and I really don't want to re-hash it on here, nor do I want to talk bad about him. We love Bradyn so much and he is a precious kid, just hard to live with sometimes.... Hopefully some of what is going on with him will be revealed to us shortly.

Miss Lizzie is doing great; she's growing like a weed! Baby girl finally has a little bit of hair on her head! Yay for bows! She's tall and skinny, and absolutely beautiful! At 18 months, she started talking in full sentences, not all the time of course, mostly when she was frustrated... she would have word explosion! "I want down!" "I want up!" "I want that towel!" etc. etc. It's awesome! Pretty much anything I ask her to say, she can! She loves to read books, play baby dolls, and have tea parties. Yes, already! It's precious! She arranges a bunch of play food on plates, gets cup and pours "tea" in them and stirs them with a spoon! Having a girl is alot of fun. I'm all about cars and robots and transformers and tools and blowing stuff up with Bradyn, but I'm finding it much easier to relate to Elizabeth's play... gentle, nurturing, etc.

I'm going to leave off here. I'm going to make a HUGE effort this week to write a little bit at a time so I don't feel so overwhelmed by trying to get the last 10 months down NOW. The kids are napping and I need to get in the shower. I'm making a new mom in my MOMS club dinner tonight, and I need to get busy!

Good Grief....

Oh.My.Gosh. I am so sorry it has been FOREVER since I've written on here. Life has been keeping me pretty busy. Blogging wasn't so bad when Elizabeth was a teeny tiny sleeping baby. But one day, long ago, she started crawling... then pulling up...now she's darn near walking. I'm busy from 7 in the morning to 9 at night. I have time for... nothing. Only sometimes do I manage to shower and clean my house. ;-) Not alot of time for blogging. BUT, here I am. I won't even bother to try to recall everything that's happened in the last 6 months, but I can tell you it's been a blast. These babies keep us on our toes, but WOW! we are so blessed and we love every moment of this life.

Today is my little son's birthday. He is 4. Such a big boy. :) So smart and handsome and sweet. Such a joy. Thank you God for my perfect son. It's also been 2 years since my dad passed. Actually, Jenna, Zach, and I were all together today which was nice. Zach's visiting Jenna in Kyle, and they drove to Hutto to spend the day with us. This morning Keith watched the kids while I went to do a little retail therapy. I thought I was ok, but once I got by myself in the car and was driving, I broke down into tears. I always listen to "positive & encouraging" KLOVE (the Christian radio station) now, and what a blessing that was today. My God is faithful and I must never forget that.










Right now, we are looking forward to the Christmas season. I'm super excited because it's Lizzie's 1st Christmas, and Bradyn's 5th Christmas actually.... should be fun! I promise, I'll try to do better updating this thing. Lots of love to everyone!!!

funniest.thing.EVER!

Ok, so I've gotta write some of this stuff down before I forget it. Ya know the saying, "Kids say the darndest things!", why, yes... they do! Bradyn has been saying some of the funniest things lately. He makes me smile everyday. :)

**The other day I was waiting for him to get finished on the potty. I looked in his bathroom mirror while I was standing there and patted my lovely post-partum belly and said, "ugh". Bradyn said (with complete sincerity, and as a compliment), "Wow Mom, your belly is so fat!" Now understand, Bradyn is likely the ONLY person on the planet that could say that and get away with it! I chuckled and said, "Why, thank you Bradyn." (Wait, it gets better...) THEN he said, "Who's livin' in there Mom?" Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!!!!!!!!! I said, "Oh.. no one's living in there anymore, it's just fat." He said, "Well, somebody's gotta be livin' in there." LOL!

**When he gets dizzy, he says, "Whoa!!!! I gettin' BUSY!" (busy instead of dizzy) :-)

**He coughed today and insisted I take him to the dr. so he could get a "check out". (a check-up, gets it confused with "checking out" at the grocery store) ha ha!

**Yesterday we were coloring and I said, "Bradyn, I love you. I'm glad God gave you to me. You're my special little guy." He said, "Aw, Mom. You're my special guy too."

**We saw Heidi and Spencer Pratt's wedding on TV and Bradyn said Heidi "looked like a Princess". I explained to him that they were getting married and that they loved each other. The next day I told him I loved him and he said, "Yes, and we're married." he he he... I told him that mommy and daddy were married. So, now he thinks that mommy and daddy are married and "Bradyn and Ewizabuf" are married. :-)

**We went to church at Hutto Baptist last Sunday and the Sunday school teacher asked Bradyn his name. He introduced himself as "Bradyn Becker, the Superhero". He even showed off his muscles. :)

Thank you God for my little son. We've had a difficult time with him lately, but the little things, like this wonderful, innocent, constant comic relief makes being a mother ALL worth it. :)

Swimming and other fun things!

Memorial Day weekend was low-key for us, we pretty much spent the weekend and Monday with ourselves. :-) I love family time and hanging out at the house. On Saturday afternoon we did actually go swimming with Kevin out in Manor. It was Lizzie's first time wearing sunscreen and a bathing suit, and her 1st time swimming. She liked it very much; she was so interested and alert. Bradyn had a blast too, of course! We got washed out by a big storm and rainfall, but we still had tons of fun! Thank you Kevin for inviting us!

Sunday included a family trip to Super H-E-B. Wow. Always an adventure with 2 kids! We came home and Keith grilled out pork chops. Here's a shot we got after it rained on Sunday....


On Monday we all got to sleep a little bit late. Bradyn normally wakes up every morning at 7am, but since the sun has been rising earlier, he's been getting up earlier. He graced us with his presence at 6:29 am Memorial Day morning. Poor little guy. If it'd been just 30 minutes later, one of us would've gotten up with him, but 6:29? Baby still asleep? Eeeek! Couldn't do it. Keith told him it was NOT time to get up yet and to go back to bed. Normally that would've elicited a fit, but he only whimpered a little and said "OK"--- slept till 8:15. :-) I spent the morning looking at and trying to decide which new cloth diapers I was going to order for Lizzie. We bought Bradyn a little pool with a slide on it and he played outside while Keith smoked a Boston Butt. No, our pool isn't as cool as Kevin's, but it'll have to work. Bradyn had the best time swimming, sliding, playing with water squirters, and running around.

When Lizzie woke up from her LOOOOONG nap, we went outside and played with brother in the pool, not even bothering to put a swim suit or swim diaper on her! That evening, we had the most delicious pulled pork sandwiches. My husband is becoming a master at grilling and smoking. Everything he makes is so delicious and I am glad he has so much fun cooking out!

Elizabeth is now obsessed with putting either her hands (more specifically her thumb)or her feet in her mouth. Yes, over the weekend she learned to suck on her toes. It's HILARIOUS and quite adorable.

Look at that flexibility!


Bradyn's new thing is he lays down by Elizabeth and looks into her eyes and says, "Ewizabuf, I wuv you. You're my best friend Ewizabuf." SOOOO sweet! She loves watching Bradyn as he's playing too. Bradyn can provide her (and me) with hours of non-stop activity and excitement. Keyword: non-stop. :-)

Last Sunday, on Mother's Day, May 10th, Keith and I had the children baptized at Redeemer Lutheran Church. It was a very special, memorable day (ah, memorable, thanks to Bradyn... in a nutshell: a 3 year old and a temper tantrum, enough said). In other news, Elizabeth has blossomed the last 2 weeks! She hit 3 months and all of a sudden started doing everything at once! She now: sleeps through the night (AMEN!), touches her toes, looks at her hands (and I think she's starting to realize they're connected to her body!), supports her weight on her legs when we pull her to standing, and at exactly 3 1/2 months (5/15/09), she rolled over for the first time, back to belly!!! She is such a joy and I am constantly amazed by her. The one thing she hasn't done yet is grow hair. :) I love her bald little head though! I call her "Peach" because her hair/head feel like peach fuzz when I kiss her. sooooo soft! It's one of the many names she has, along with lovebug, princess, lizzie, sweetheart, Liz Beth, sweet girl, baby, fluffy butt, and the list goes on!


Bradyn has one more full day of preschool left and then has his end of school program on Thursday, May 21st and we're done! I can't say that I'm sad; I'm ready for this school year to be over with. For the last month, Bradyn has been throwing a fit when I come to pick him up in the afternoon. He's sees me coming down the hall and shouts, "Noooooooo! I don't want to go home Mom!" Then it turns in to a big fight to get him out of the church. NOT fun with a baby and a backpack and a lunchbox and the day's art project. Oh.... being a mom sure humbles ya. If you have a thing about being embarrassed, having children will pretty much force you to get over it, eh, or at least deal with it more often than you wish you had to. Bradyn's at a hard age/phase right now, stuck between being a "little" boy and a "big" boy, having a new sibling in the house, not being the center of attention anymore, etc. On top of it all, he's headstrong, difficult, stubborn, determined, whatever you want to call it. We've talked to him, taken away privledges, spanked him, threatened him, reasoned with him, prayed, yelled, cried, and nothing phases him. Hopefully he'll mature over the summer so when he goes back to school in the fall we won't have this problem. If we do, I will pull him out of the program, it's that simple. I'm not paying $165/month to be mortified every Tuesday/Thursday. Forget the terrible 2's, the terrible 3's are way worse! Gotta love the kid though. Surely this hard-headed determination will serve him well later in life... (crossing my fingers!)

Oh.My.Gosh!

Aaaahhhh!!!! :)I got a FULL night's sleep last night!! I got in bed at 11pm and my feet did not hit the floor again until 7:39am! That's only because Keith had to leave for work and I had to get up with Bradyn; Lizzie is still sleeping! I cannot believe this! I'm so excited, but honestly, I feel like I got run over by a truck... hopefully I'll feel better when I wake up a little and drink my coffee. By my calculations, I figure I'm about 150 hours short on sleep since Jan. 28. :-)It was so nice to REST last night; thank you GOD!

Speaking of God, we are having the children baptized at Redeemer Lutheran this weekend. We're having a private ceremony after the church service. Bradyn's godparents are David and Hafida Becker (my sister-and-brother-in-law) and Elizabeth's godparents are our good friends Tammy and Travis Allen. My mother, brother, and sister are coming in tonight to stay the weekend with us. Zach and Keith are going to hang out Travis' house for a "guy's night" in celebration of Travis' birthday. Keith, David, and my father-in-law Larry are going to play golf tomorrow morning, and then in the afternoon we're having a BBQ in celebration of Zach's 21st birthday (tear, :-( can't believe he's 21 already..). Then Sunday is the baptism and Mother's Day! What a fun-filled, busy, blessed, exciting weekend we have planned! I've gotta get busy making a cake for Zach and getting this house cleaned. Happy Mother's Day to all you mommas out there!