2012 Year in Review

Christmas cards went out two days ago and some friends/family have already received them! I'm in a hurry to get this post up so you all can get the scoop on what happened with the Wendzel's in 2012. We are busy with 2 boys, enjoying life, and are anticipating wonderful things for 2013....more to come on that (and no, we aren't expecting #3 yet)
 

 

January - We worked really hard to finish our basement so that it would be ready for Brekan's arrival in March. Justin did most of the work himself and we now have a wonderful entertainment space and a great playroom for the boys!

 

 

February - Coleman spent lots of time outside helping daddy shovel the driveway. We were busy getting the house ready and Coleman prepared for Brekan's arrival!

 

 

 

March - Welcome to our family Brekan Randall Wendzel, March 2, 2012. We were so blessed with an easy birth experience (way different from Coleman's). He is such a good baby and we are so happy to be a family of 4!

 

 

April - we were adjusting to life as a family of 4. This picture was taken after I (Kelly) had gone out of the house for a bit, I came back and both of my boys are without pants....this tends to happen lots when daddy is watching his boys. Apparently it's easier to just change them and leave the pants off....sigh

 

May - Beautiful weather and lots of time spent outside and at the park. Coleman loves sticks, rocks, dirt, and anything that will get him dirty!

 

June - My Grandmom visited Holland for 2 weeks. She got to meet her newest great grandson, Brekan! Here we all are with Grandmom and her great grandsons!

 

 

 

July - Happy Birthday to Coleman! 2 years old! Growing and changing everyday, he is a little ham and loves to talk and make us laugh.

 

 

August - After a summer full of drought and hot weather, when it finally rained I took Coleman to the farm to play in the mud puddles....boy did he have fun! Cute little B is enjoying time at the park with the family! He is a happy baby full of smiles!

 

 

 September - The busy started! Justin spent lots of time at the farm and we visited him often. The boys and I enjoyed going to story time at the library - B really started to get into the songs and stories too!

 

 

 

October - Justin continued to be busy at the farm and we visited lots. Coleman loved doing the Pumpkin Lane Train and the slide. He started to enjoy the jumping pillow right at the end of the season (I think we're going to have lots of fun with that come spring/summer). We had fun carving pumpkins on Halloween. Coleman enjoyed the goop inside the pumpkin. Sadly, we also had to say goodbye to our dog, Harley. Due to some medical needs and behavior changes, we realized that she wasn't a good fit for our family. As hard at it was to make this decision, we know it was the right one for us. Harley is now living with a wonderful new family...we hear that she and the families outdoor cat have become best buddies! She is loves running around in the woods and is doing very well. We miss her, but we are glad that she is happy and healthy!

 

 

November - Happy Thanksgiving! The busy season finally slowed down and we got to see Justin/Daddy lots more which made all 3 of us very happy! Here is our yearly family photo in the big rocking chair and our precious boys at Thanksgiving. Brekan's new trick - So Big! Coleman is learning how to smile big for the camera!
 

December - We went to cut down our tree and had a blast! Horse drawn wagon ride to the trees, popcorn and hot chocolate afterwards. We all had fun!

 

Breky-B 8 months

I'm only 6 days off on posting little b's 8 month post...yay for me!

8 months old!

The little guy is almost crawling...and by almost, I mean that he is so frustrated he can't get going that he has been a bit fussy (which is NOT like him at all). He has figured out how to get on all fours and rock back and forth. He can put one or two hands in front and stretch but then falls on his tummy and he will then roll wherever he needs to go. He can get up  from his tummy to a sitting up position (something he likes to do when he is done with nap time). He can also scoot around in a circle to get to where he want to go or see what he wants to see.

Brekan loves to stand along the couch, on the glider stool, or on the activity table we have in the basement. He is beginning to pull himself up onto some of these things as well. He likes to climb all over my lap and try to stand up.

This pic makes me laugh...the table was moving away from him but he tried so hard to stay with it!

Our cute little guy has also discovered his voice! He loves to make gurgling noises and can mimick some of our noises. My favorites are when he babbles 'gagaga' and 'dadada' in the sweetest little voice. It melts my heart!

FINALLY! Brekan has gotten his first tooth (one on the bottom) and the second one has begun to make it's appearance as well. I couldn't figure out why he was being so fussy and the next morning I saw the first tooth! What a cute little smile he has!

Haven't gotten a toothy pic yet...but I did get this adorable drool action shot!

Our little 8 month old was a Dragon for Halloween this year. I got the costume last fall when I was pregnant with him for around $5. I didn't know that it was going to be the perfect costume for him. Since Coleman still pronounces his name "Drekan" we decided to call him "Drekan the Dragon". It fits so well! He made a very cute dragon....and we had a pretty adorable runner too!

He didn't care for the costume too much...it just added to his rolls that he already had

We also had fun carving pumpkins on Halloween

This little dude still LOVES his baths. He loves to splash and splash and he squeals with delight! Coleman doesn't care for all the splashing too much so we've been having to put out a lot of fires at bath time. So much so that we are even thinking of letting them each have their own bath night instead of sharing the tub....we'll see what happens. Sigh

Breky-b is still a GREAT eater and has begun to eat little pieces of banana and avocado. He is still in love with puffs and is getting really good at picking them up and putting them in his mouth. He does not miss a meal and he KNOWS when it's time to eat and will let us know by getting really crabby! Thankfully, he has learned how to hold his bottle on his own!

I know I should save this new trick for 9 months, but it's too close to him turning 8 months that I'm going to brag about it now. Brekan can clap!! He can do it when you ask him/show him and he will do it when he's happy too! It's super adorable.

We survived the busy season (me, the boys, and Justin), and we are now adjusting to life back to "normal" for us. I love having Justin home more often and I love seeing him interact with his boys. They are both really happy to have him home more too!

One of the biggest topics of conversations with friends and family is the cute spiky hair that Brekan has. He lost all of his cute baby hair (and a full head of hair too!) and this is what grew back. I have tried to brush it down but it just keeps sticking up. This photo is of my recent attempt to brush it down and as you can see, it just goes right back to standing up on it's own. I think it's cute and gives him his own little trademark look. He looks like Larry from the 3 stooges in this picture....but the rest of it eventually stood back up straight after it dried.

Our little B is growing up so much lately and we are seeing so many new changes each day. It's fun to watch his personality develop and to see him try and chase after his big brother. He has so much determination to follow him....if only those legs would get moving! Can't wait to see what's in store for 9 months.

Oh silly witch!

 

I should really be cleaning and getting ready for my busy weekend, but I just have to post this really quick before it gets too late in the month and I forget....it's also too funny not to share and have as a memory for Coleman.

 

He looks so big! 27 months

 

The boys and I went out one evening to run some errands. I should preface a little bit that because the boys are so little, we don't talk much about Halloween, etc. I'm really not that big in to the "holiday" myself. Sure, I dress them up because it's cute and stuff, but the whole scaring, haunting, etc. really isn't my cup of tea and I'd rather focus on Fall fun like pumpkins, apples, harvest, and stuff. Coleman doesn't even eat candy yet so trick or treating/trunk or treats really don't apply to us now anyway. We do go to a wonderful Halloween outreach that our church puts on with games and stuff that he can enjoy, so I'm thankful for that! I don't decorate my house with witches and skeletons and spiders, I decorate with pumpkins, leaves, candy corn, apples, and acorns. That way my decorations can stay up for 2 months =) I also didn't think that at 2 years old I would have to explain to my son about skeletons, witches, devils, scary masks and costumes and what not (mommy lesson #457 I guess).

 

So, we are out running errands and I had to stop at Home Depot to get 2 little outlet covers (target didn't have them). Off we head into the store, I didn't grab a cart, I had Coleman walking with me and I was carrying Brekan. We walked in and there is a human sized skeleton with a large black robe on and a skeleton face. I immediately saw it and got down by Coleman and told him that it was funny, it wasn't real, and we just walked right past it. (crisis averted right?....wrong). We trekked our way ALL over the store and made a game of it while I got lost trying to find the electrical section (turns out it was straight back...but oh well). We were walking up to the counter to pay, Coleman was tagging along behind me because we were playing a chasing game with Brekan. I started to put my items on the counter, and Coleman comes up behind me and looks incredibly frightened! I bent down and asked him what was wrong, then I saw it. A human sized scary looking witch that cackled at him as he walked past it on our way up to the counter. I said "is that was you are scared of?" He just looked at me and lost it...I mean LOST it. Tears streaming, screaming high pitch cry...he was NOT HAPPY! I snuggled him as best I could with Brekan on my hip being bent down. I calmed him down and explained that everything was okay. I told him that it was called a witch and sometimes in October people put them out as decoration. I explained that they weren't real, just pretend (had him repeat that part), they were silly and not scary. He calmed down somewhat but I could tell it was still bothering him. We got to the car and I buckled the boys in. While buckling in Coleman I said "are you okay?" he said "yep", but I knew he was still thinking about it. So on the way home we continued to talk about it as I could tell it was bothering him. I told him that next time we see something like that we can say "Oh silly witch" and made a game out of it. He started to catch on and we laughed about it (yay...making progress). Then when I began to sing "shoo witch don't bother us (like the shoo fly song)" that really got him going and he was good to go!

 

So now throughout our day he will randomly say "oh silly witch" "shoo witch, don't bother us". Too funny!  However, the next day I took him to Meijer and we went through the Halloween section (an area I usually don't go into anyway) and we looked at the costumes and the skeleton, ghost, witch decorations. We also found a "scary" looking witch that had eyes that lit up and laughed. So we pushed the button and sang our silly song. Hopefully it helped him not be scared of all that stuff, but I really didn't think at 2 years old that I would have to do that.....lesson learned!

Brekan - 5, 6, and 7 months!

So I know I've missed months 5, 6, and 7 blog updates for Brekan. Poor kid, he's not getting as many blog updates as his older brother. What he is getting is lots of time with his mommy and brother though....so hopefully it wont matter much to him when he's older (Sorry Brekan, having 2 kids is busy...there's not much time to just sit and blog like I used to!).

 

Justin is super busy right now at the farm too, so time to myself is pretty  much non-existent or it happens at 8:30 when the boys go to bed and then I'm ready for bed myself! Thankfully both boys are doing great with the adjustment of not having daddy around much right now. We are lucky that we can go visit him at work to say hi or have a meal with him.

Enjoying time at the farm with daddy - we try and visit lots for lunchtime/dinner time if he's working late.

Let's see if I can sum up all the fun, new, and exciting things this precious little B has learned!

He developed a love of sticking out his tongue and curling it to the side. He is always SO happy when he does this...it's been fun to watch as he figures out what it does.

 

Brekan officially rolls from his back to his tummy by turning to the right. He has almost figured out how to get from tummy to back too! If only I could teach him at night time that when he rolls to his tummy he can lay his head down and fall asleep (not so much yet).

5 months - Brekan learned to sit up all by himself! Hooray!

 

Dreky-B (as pronounced by Coleman), loves to chew chew chew, especially on his hands!

Brekan is fascinated with his big brother. He loves to watch him play and Coleman loves to make Brekan smile. I think they are going to be good buddies!

6 month little B, 26 months Coleman

At 6 months we introduced solid foods. a HUGE hit with HD (Heavy Duty, nicknamed by his grandpa). So far we've tried bananas, avocados, sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, apricots, prunes, pears, yogurt, mango, and carrots. He loves it all! Currently we are working on using a sippy cup with water and he's just starting to get the hang of it.

 

 

6 month stats: 27 inches (58th %), 21.5 pounds (93rd %), and 43 cm head circumference (77th %). He is currently wearing 9 month clothing and growing at a rapid rate! Adorable smiles and SO healthy! Don't you just love the spiky hair? He lost all of his dark precious baby hair he was born with, this is what has been growing back =) I love it!

 

Brekan also developed a cute little habit of deep breathing when he's really excited. He sucks in and out really fast then squeals with delight.

He has the most adorable giggles. He especially loves to laugh after hearing his big brother laugh. Coleman can get Brekan laughing better than I can (and so can his daddy!).

 

 

 

7 months old - isn't he just precious?! I can't figure out how to turn the picture around...but it's too cute not to share!

 



He has recently developed a love for standing up on by the couch and on this fun toy!

 

I'm super happy to announce that Brekan is in a car seat that he likes! He was getting to big for the infant carrier and just this week, Coleman's new car seat arrived and he passes his down to Brekan. YAY for having a happy Brekan riding in the car again! I'm thankful I don't have to carry the 6 pound careseat with my 21 pound baby around my arm anymore too!

We are so lucky that Brekan is such a happy and content baby. All the pictures that I take of him he pretty much always has a smile. I love that he is content to sit and watch, but I also love that he lets me know when he needs me too.

 

Brekan, know that your mommy loves you SO much and I would do anything for you! Thanks for bringing me so much joy each and every day.

 

Life with 2 is busy, and it's really busy right now because I'm pretty much taking care of them 24/7 on my own. I wouldn't trade it for the world though. I love that I get to see each first for the boys and watch them grow and learn new things each day. I'm so lucky to be their mom!

7 months and 27 months

 

Coleman - 2 YEARS OLD!

It's hard to believe that it's been 2 years since we brought our precious Coleman home from the hospital. It's amazing to realize all of the changes that have taken place since he was born too!

 July 3, 2010

 July 3, 2011

 July 3, 2012

We are so blessed to have Coleman. He is an active, bright, spunky little boy. He has a cute personality (we call him our little "ham"). He has a great sense of humor, a wonderful memory, and makes us laugh each day. Sometimes before Justin and I go to bed at night, we reminisce about all the funny things he said or did that day (or has done) and we find ourselves laughing and telling each other how much we love our little guy. I'm so thankful for blogging about his milestones so we have them to look back on and remember the funny things he did or said.

 Our little ham - wearing daddy's shoes

Coleman is talking up a STORM! He has a great vocabulary and has begun to put 3-4 word sentences together. The other morning we were playing with his race cars and he looked at me and said "Harley ate cracker mema (grandmom) and grandads house.....silly Harley". Then he laughed. He remembered this from about 3 weeks prior when we had visited my parents. Apparently he just had to share it with me that morning - too cute! I love that I can have a conversation with him (but I guess I've been doing that since he was an infant), and I love that he can tell me how he's feeling (most of the time).

 Showing off his "muscles"!

While having this new vocabulary is amazing, we are starting to miss his "made up" words for different things. Coleman used to call milk, "neh"...which for a while sounded like "no" so we were really confused (so thankful for sign language and teaching him the sign for milk or I would have been in trouble!). We now call 'milk' by it's correct name. My parents dog, Kodiak, has been given the name "deko" (think Kody backwards) - we have now unofficially renamed him deko because it's just too cute! Coleman knows how to say "thank you" which sounds like "babo", but since we always say 'you're welcome' after, he has taken it upon himself to just say "thank you welcome" each time he receives something. Coleman still has a precious sound for the word 'swing'...I wish I could type out what it sounds like, but it wont do it justice. I will be sad the day we actually say the word 'swing'.

Coleman loves anything BOY related. He loves rocks, dirt, sticks, sand, mud, playing in the hose, outdoor activities, tons of sports (and is awesome at throwing and kicking a ball - his daddy taught him well). He loves trucks, tractors, bus', cars, boats, and airplanes. Lately he has been into construction machines like bulldozer, bobcats, excavators, dump trucks, etc. and will tell you the specific name if he sees it on a drive somewhere. There is a new store going up right near our house and they have some of the big equipment out. We drove past the other day and Coleman shouted "Excavator! Bull dozer!", then when we drove past later that day he said "roller!" because they had added a new machine....oh how I love this child!

 One thing I love most about Coleman is that even though he loves all these BOY things, he still has a sensitive side to him. He will pick up any stuffed animal he has, give it a kiss and a hug, and put it back down. He even does this with stuffed animals at different stores to tell them "bye bye" before we leave. We are working on Coleman being more adventurous - he is a bit scared of the unknown, but once he has tried something and knows everything is okay and he's fine, he is fine. We just need to get past the "unsure" stage.

 Big Boy Swing!

Coleman loves his little brother (most of the time). We are very lucky that Coleman has adjusted so well to Brekan. I think a lot of that has to do with all the prepping we did with him before his arrival, but he really does a good job of helping with Brekan and looking out for him. He really doesn't care to hold him that much, but if someone else is holding him or looking at him in the car seat, Coleman has to be right here to make sure Brekan is okay. He will often walk past Brekan, stop, go back, give him a hug and kiss, then go back to whatever he was doing and I just love that!

 Giving Brekan a hug

 Brother Love!

We are so blessed to have Coleman in our lives. He brings us so much joy, smiles, laughter, and is great at testing our patience....but we LOVE him even more because of it.