The Fenstermaker's: May 2014

I know it has been way too long since I have gotten you all caught up with the Fentsermaker clan. So here we go and I am sure I will miss a few things!

Andrew is doing well and staying REALLY busy! Baseball season is in full swing and just this coming week he will be gone 4/5 nights to a game. Luckily they are close to home so it won't be wee hours of the night he comes sneaking in. This coming week is also his last week of school and his last week teaching first grade (at least for a while!). He will be moving up to fifth grade next year and I think he is a little anxious to see the change in the classroom. Not only in the aspect of the kiddos but the way he can teach and integrate technology. He is a tech geek through and through! As much as he is gone he has been a rockstar daddy and husband and helps out any chance he can. He also takes full advantage of the little things when he is home too ... like bed time stories and some extra outside play with Braylon. All and all the busy summer has started for him but on the plus side he will not be putting in all the extra morning hours at a second job this summer. He has decided to do a few weeks of STEM camp for elementary aged kiddos here at the house. His sessions filled up super fast and he ended up adding an evening one as well. He will have fun teaching them science, technology, engineering and math of all sorts. Even a little robot play!

Me.. well I am back to work full time and the weeks are flying. I miss those two little monsters like crazy even more now that I had a "taste" of staying home every day. I still ask Andrew on occasion if I can just have the "mommy" title as a job but unfortunately it does not pay bills. :( Work has been steady with Graduation, end of the year changes and some filling in for staff so it at least keeps my mind busy. On top of the work gig I am of course and most importantly a mommy. Now that baseball season is here some nights I am more like a single mommy. I am still working on a good and set routine to help benefit all of us but its just not as easy this time around with two! (no complaining here, I love those stinkers!) We seem to manage every night and keep ourselves with in our 20 minute time frame of bed. I am no wonder mom but we go to bed with love and laughter and wake up the same. Nothing more I could ask or hope for! The mommy job can be a bit rough on a lady sometimes! I am not rushing the summer away but I will admit I am looking forward to an evening where I can skip out and go have a coffee in quiet or a pedicure or even just go to the bathroom! Ha!!

Braylon has continued to amaze me in all the ways that he is growing both educationally and physically. He has pretty much mastered the potty training thing with the occasional "i was just too busy" accident. The only thing really standing in is way is his HUGE fear of noise and slight fear of public bathrooms. For instance our outing today to toys are us... big bathroom, echoing everywhere, AUTOMATIC FLUSHERS!!!! The echoing was fun, maybe too much fun! He started wiggling on the potty and messing around THEN the toilet flushed. He went into MAJOR panic mode because it was LOUD! So we went to the next stall...again. Next stall...again. On the last stall it happened of course and that was it. Even though he was doing the potty dance there was absolutely no way he was going to go potty. The fear continued to the next place as well. After he peed in his pants a little, his continued potty dance and the amazingly loud screams he mad as we went into even try the bathroom... I gave in and put a pull up on him. It took him a few tears, "i will wait till i get home" and more dancing before he finally just gave in and went in the pull up. SO any suggestions on how to help calm those two fears would be great!!! With the weather warming up (finally!!) Braylon is harder than hard to corral indoors. I mean almost impossible. He knows how to get outside, how to fill the water table, water the plants and the list goes on. It is a struggle to cook dinner, feed Brekkon (who always seems hungry between 5:30-6:30) and keep Braylon in view! WE may be resorting to PB sandwiched and hotdogs as a steady diet! He has a new found love for sand boxes too. Todays outing was for just that reason...a new sand box! He has already been digging away and loving it. He is such a good big brother too! He has a lot of moments where he just giggles and laughs with Brekkon and it warms the heart. I am sure there is more but I am blanking...

I could go on for days about Brekkon. He is at the stage where there are new things every day. You really forget how small and cuddly a baby can be when your first was not a snuggler! Brekkon has to be one of the happiest babies we know. Even his mad cry is nothing compared to Braylon as a baby. He is full of smiles, laughs and jabbers all the time. He can keep a crowd entertained for hours I'm sure. He loves his big brother and it never fails Braylon can get him to smile. He recently had his first cold and first ear infection. He is still fighting off the cough but seems to be doing so much better. He is a rock star eater and sleeper. On average these days he is sleeping 9-6. Tonight he was out by a little after 8 so we could be in for an early morning and a growling belly! He has a love for the outdoors too a long with warm baths, his fuzzy, snuggles and now his thumb!! We may have a thumb sucker on our hands! He recently just hit the 3 month milestone so I plan to post some fun facts soon! One of our next challenges as the next weeks come is to transition Brekkon into his big boy bed. He has been in there over night just a few times and seems to do great. Just hoping they both transition well! Wish me luck!

Enjoy some fun pictures from May!! We love you all!!