Twenty One Months

Bryson is turning into such a sweet little boy. With the warmer weather, we've been spending most of our time outside. He loves to follow Brandon and I around, 'helping' with whatever we're doing. He helped wash cars, put laundry in the dryer and make chocolate chip cookies yesterday. He loves to play in the water, specifically his water table and the pool at swim lessons. He's still not quite sure of his Elmo sprinkler.

Milestones:

- He moved up to size 5 diapers

- He's almost completely into 2T shirts

- Still taking good afternoon naps/sleeping well at night.

- Bryson's about to move up to a 6 1/2 or 7 in his shoe size

- He's starting to combine 2 words together. Most of the time it's 'my' or 'mine' paired with the name of the object.

- He LOVES to give hugs and kisses

- Bryson is OBSESSED with Elmo, painting and coloring. He also really enjoys naming all the members in our family and all the animal sounds.

I'm looking forward to the summer, as I'm only going to work three days a week instead of four. We'll be able to spend more time together and play with our friends more! It's going to be a great!!!!

Mothers Day

What a difference a year makes! Here's Bryson and I on Mothers Day last year......

and then attempting to get the same pose again this year! (It didn't quite play out the way I wanted it to) But, we got a few good photos in either way.........

We had a very busy day today! We went to Broken Egg for an early breakfast, then we went to church and to Target. We all got in an afternoon nap before having to make yet another trip to the office. The business has been growing SO much- and Brandon built some new storage cabinets up at the office to help us out.

Autism 5K

Yesterday, our office, family and friends all participated in the 'Ready, Set, Run' 5K and Fun Run for the Autism Center of Tulsa. The photo above is from right before the 5K, but we had over 20 people participate! It was a perfect morning- not too hot, not too windy- just plenty of hills on the 5K trail.

My knee has been giving me some trouble, since the week before the cruise. It's finally gotten better with help from an AWESOME chiropractor in town, Dr. Zollner. He's analyzed my stride (while running) and has really helped get rid of the pain and improve my run. I beat my own personal record yesterday, completing the race is 33 minutes and 37 seconds!!

Bryson was a trooper yesterday as well. Brandon pushed him in his stroller through the 5K!

Overall, it was a wonderful day. I'm very thankful for our health, and to have a career that doesn't feel like 'work'.

Twenty.

It's hard to believe that Bryson will be twenty months old tomorrow!! Today, we walked down to the church's on the corner Easter egg hunt, with our neighbors(we count them as friends too!). Even though it had been raining off and on overnight and into the morning, the rain cleared just in time! Bryson had a blast and was a very well behaved little boy. He was able to 'find' plenty of eggs, we all got free Chikfila for lunch, and Bryson got to spend some time jumping in the bouncy castle!

Twenty Month Old Milestones:

- we're moving up to size 5 diapers just as soon as we finish this last box of 4's.

- we're also moving up to 2T clothing, size 6 to 6 1/2 shoes

- Bryson is talking up a storm. Still no consistent two-word utterances, but he loves to look at pictures and label family members and knows a TON of animal noises.

- Bryson's sleep habits are holding steady. Thank goodness.

- Bryson's ears had a rough month, but allergies have been TERRIBLE here! We've started him back on Allegra in hopes of keeping him out of the doctors office.

- We've had to start 'time-outs' for his fit throwing, and they have worked wonderfully!

- Now that it's warmer outside, we are spending most of our evenings playing with our neighbor friends.

Cruise!

Brandon and I just returned from an amazing, seven night cruise!!! My parents and my little sister kept Bryson so that we could have a week away.

We departed from Miami aboard the Celebrity Eclipse- one of the biggest and newest ships we've ever been on!

Our ports of call were Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Costa Maya and Roatan. I discovered the website 'cruise critic' a while back, and booked all of our shore excursions based on the recommendations I found on that website.

In Grand Cayman- we booked the 'Stingray, Snorkel and Rum Point' tour through Native Way. We ended up in a group of 6 (including us) and had an AMAZING time. Rum Point was a beautiful beach, we loved interacting with the stingrays and we even got to hold a starfish!

(one of the views from Rum Point)

In Cozumel, we joined up with a group from cruise critic, for the Cozumel Bar Hop. It was a great way to see the entire island, and we had a blast! At sailaway, we met this awesome couple from New York, and we ended up hanging out with them for the majority of the trip.

In Costa Maya, our New York friends joined us for a relaxing day at the beach. We emailed Steve at a beach side restaurant called Tropicante and reserved 2 lounge chairs on the beach. It was wonderful to 'deal' with an American, and he took care of us!! He has a Skype phone, so we were able to call home and check on Bryson while there.

In Roatan, we booked a snorkel tour with Upachaya. Once I get the photos back from Walgreens, I'll post more about this part of our trip.

Brandon and I will be celebrating our fifth anniversary this summer, so this trip was a little bit of an anniversary celebration, mixed with a much needed break from the office and some much needed time alone, as just a couple. We missed Bryson- but it was nice to relax and be a couple! We didn't have to worry about baths, nap and bed times, etc. It was nice (but difficult at times!) to be 'unplugged'- I missed my iphone at times though.

Bryson's been great since we've been home- he really seemed to enjoy himself while we were gone, and he is talking more!!! We are very blessed to have family willing to keep him and to be able to take a week off!

St Paddy's Day

What a beautiful day here in Oklahoma! The high was in the 80's, the sun was shinning and my work day was light!!

After supper, we brought out the sand and water table for Bryson and his friend Lauren to play in. They LOVED it- I can't wait for summer, when we can spend every evening outside!

5K and other news....

I participated in my first organized 5K this past weekend- the St. Paddy's Day Run. Over 2,600 runners were there! I completed the race is 34 minutes and 59 seconds, which basically means I was running an 11 minute mile. I've been averaging that on the treadmill at Gold's Gym- although I hoped to run a smidge faster.

Brandon and Bryson came to cheer me on and play on the inflatables. It meant alot to me to have them there in the crowd!!

In other news this past week- I hired an OT (Occupational Therapist) and COTA (OT assistant)!! I'm so excited to be adding these two ladies to the team and for my kids to get the services they need.
Spring Break is this coming week- and then we'll be on our Caribbean cruise before you know it!! I can't wait!