My Brody Boy

Since the only pictures I have taken recently were of Brody, this post is all about him.

Brody loves to watch "shows" and "sports." Elmo, Thomas, Word World and most recently "Buzz and Woody" are his favorites. We went to a wedding Tuesday night and there was a balloon man there. He was amazing. We were expecting the normal balloon shapes like swords and poodles, those kinds of things. This balloon man was much more talented than that. He made Brody a Buzz Lightyear. It was amazing. I also saw him make Cinderella, Indiana Jones (complete with a whip and hat) and a stormtrooper on a speedracer.





I've mentioned this before, but Brody is already a pretty good athlete. The other night I was pitching to him in the family room. I was sitting on the couch and he hit the ball over the ledge separating our kitchen and family room (we have vaulted ceilings and there is a space in between), and the ball hit the blinds by our kitchen table. It's a bit hard to explain, but it was a VERY good hit. I only let him hit the soft foamy ball when we're inside now. He also enjoys shooting hoops, playing catch, golf and soccer. He really is a talented little boy, and I'm trying not to be too biased!



A favorite meal of the Kemp family is Chili Mac. It's Chili over spaghetti noodles (actually you can use any noodles) and cheese. Brody really likes it. Anytime I make it, Brody eats a ton. This is what he looked like after having it for lunch the other day.



Brody likes to make us laugh. Unfortunately, he can tell when we're trying NOT to laugh, and realizes that is his opportunity. Tonight during family prayer, it was Brody's turn to say it and the cadence he used for each word was hilarious. I don't know how I was able to continue helping him to the end.


The other night when Rob got home he did play-doh with Brody. Needless to say, Rob and Brody made different shapes than when Mom and Brody play! (Notice Brody's worried look!)




Now you know a bit more about the little boy that brings so much joy to my life!

I admit, I am a groupie

That is a phrase I never thought I would say. However, due to my love of cooking and finding new recipes to try, I found this website (ourbestbites.com) and fell in love. It is usually updated every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and it is the first website I go to when Rob gets home. I love it. If you've talked cooking/recipes lately, you've probably already heard me talk about it. Now the rest of you get to share in the joy!

The first recipe I tried was the Creamy Tomato Soup. Even though I love tomatoes, I've never been a real big fan of tomato soup. This recipe changed my mind. The first time I made it, I followed the recipe. The next two times, I doubled it with the intention of freezing it, but didn't make it that far because it was so good.

Now I'm hooked. I definitely recommend the Caramel Toffee Fruit Dip. I think it is better after it has chilled a little bit, and it is worth it to try and find the chocolate covered toffee bits. I have only found them at Smith's Marketplace (try Fred Meyer if you live in Oregon).

I've also made the Brazilian Lemonade a few times, and really enjoy it. In fact I have some limes in my fridge and we are going to have it tonight! Our most recent favorite, and this is SO sinfully yummy (and unfortunately, bad for you), is the Puffed French Toast. I made it with the Buttermilk Syrup (which is basically caramel and is also delicious), but I didn't dip it in the cinnamon and sugar. I can't even describe to you how good this is. We decided we should have it for breakfast for a holiday or something, but we should only have it once a year. The problem is, this is so good, and I told friends about it. I made it a couple of weeks ago for the Young Women Leaders in my ward and it was a hit. We've also made plans to have it for a Youth Leadership meeting. If the kids knew how good their breakfast was going to be that day, I don't think there would be any complaining. Anyway, I highly recommend trying the French Toast and syrup, and soup, and drink, and....anything on their site is worth trying! Hope you enjoy and hope you try something new!

Full of fun

We are currently going through our first bout of throwing up and diarrhea with Brody. I believe we have gone through more than 40 diapers since Wednesday afternoon, and two loads of poopy clothes. It's been fun. There are two positives that may come out of this though. One, I learned that I really won't throw up if I see my children do it, it's just something that happens. Two, Brody recognizes when he has to go to the bathroom now and says, "Diaper, more" about two seconds before he goes to the bathroom. Maybe this illness will be a blessing in disguise and we'll be able to potty train easily. Let's all keep our fingers crossed for that, okay?

Brody loves going through my purse. I usually try and put it on top of the fridge or on the counter where he can't reach it ever since "the gum episode". One day I was on the phone with Rob's mom while I was feeding Seth. Brody had been playing with his toys, reading books and playing in his room. All of a sudden I realized he was being pretty quiet and everyone knows that a child being quiet is getting into mischief. When I called his name he didn't answer although I could hear him in the kitchen. I finished feeding Seth and went to find out what he was doing. I found him playing on the floor, with my purse. In said purse was a pack of gum with maybe one piece missing. That was before Brody got it. When I found him there were two pieces left. I asked Brody where all the gum went and he pointed to his mouth, and then said, "mama, gum...Brody." I couldn't help but laugh and tell him no. His diapers smelled minty for three days, and just in case you're wondering, minty urine does NOT smell very good. Back to the original point of this paragraph (you're getting two stories for the price of one!). Last week I was cooking dinner and Brody came into the kitchen looking like this:
At first I was worried that he was bleeding, but then I saw him holding my lipstick in his hand. Obviously I hadn't put my purse where he couldn't reach it. Luckily, I only found lipstick on his face, not anywhere else. Oh, the joys of having a two year old!!

Seth was born with a Hemangioma on his right arm. Here's a picture (out of focus-sorry) of what it looks like. Our pediatrician said that it should go away and/or lighten by the time he is two. Seth is a thumb sucker, and recently has been wanting to suck everything (which is not all that unusual). Last Sunday morning I was feeding him and saw that he'd tried to be matching. (The picture was taken two days later and is on his left arm!)

Finally, last Sunday Rob got Brody dressed after church and proclaimed that you don't have to match on Sunday afternoons! Once again, please forgive the out of focus picture, I hadn't changed the range on the camera. And two more pictures for good measure of the boys.

This one is right before Brody goes in for the "smother".

My Fishing-Man

This is Rob in his element. I think he would go fishing every day if he could. I am sure he wishes he could be like his uncle Dave. Dave is an excellent fisherman and has been fishing 5-6 days a week this year. Dave is also doing research and writing a book about fishing. He asked Rob if he wanted to be his 'research assistant', too bad for Rob he is also not retired! Rob went fishing with his uncle Dave and cousin Matt over the weekend. It was Rob's best fishing trip of the year, he said he stopped counting how many he caught after he got to twenty. This one he is holding was about 22 inches long. Maybe he should just quit now so he goes out on top!

In other news...last week we moved Brody into a toddler bed and Seth into the crib (in the same room). Brody is doing sleeping well in his new bed, but he has come into our room at 6:00 every morning since he's been in there, and of course, he comes and crawls into my side and says "hold you". It's cute, but I definitely sleep better without a little boys arm around my neck. Seth on the other hand...is still waking up 2-3 times a night. Since both boys are in the same room I really hesitate to make him cry it out. I also just don't know if I could handle listening to him cry for an hour. I'm hoping he'll just outgrow this really soon. Any suggestions? Oh yeah, Seth has also started eating solids. I'm also hoping that will help his tummy feel nice and full. We'll see.

Not much else going on here. Roommates: Jen and I were talking today and thought we should have a big roommate reunion so we can all see each other. Anyone else up for that?

A bit of nothing

In addition to exclamation points (see previous post), I also like oxymoron's- i.e. the title of today's post! Thanks to everyone who has commented so far. I read blogs all the time, but never comment. I now see how fun it is to get comments, so I will try to comment on your blogs...just so you know someone is reading!

I took Seth to his 4 month well baby check-up last week. He is a big boy. He weighed in at 16 lbs 4 oz. We have to be really careful when we change his diaper to make sure we get in between all the rolls. He is a really happy baby. Unfortunately, he is also a really happy baby at 4:00 a.m. while I am trying to sleep and he wants to play. That has been his new thing. I hope it becomes something he 'used to do' very quickly!

Over the 4th of July weekend Rob helped me get the boys on a nap schedule which is really nice. Seth had somewhat decided that he only wanted to take one nap a day. That really wasn't working for me, and he was still cranky a lot of the time. Part of the problem is that I have a hard time staying home during nap time (or any time for that matter). I was always up for going shopping or to lunch (well, especially to lunch!) or just hanging out, but I finally realized that this is not the time in my life when I can do that. I need to have a schedule every day, and do the fun things once in awhile, not the other way around. Sad times, sad times. :)

Rob and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary yesterday. It was all very romantic. He went to work and then a continuing education class. I watched my niece and nephew and then went to Young Women's. He did bring me two dozen roses home though (thank you honey and Costco!) and a piece of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. I decided to be adventurous and got "CRAIG'S CRAZY CARROT CAKE CHEESECAKE: Carrot Cake and Cheesecake Swirled Together, Topped with Cream Cheese Icing and Roasted Almonds". It was good, but I've liked other kinds from there better. I felt there wasn't a good ratio of cheesecake to carrot cake, but it was still good and I still ate the WHOLE piece. Rob had the Dulce de Leche kind. It was good as well, but we both liked other kinds better. Even though we didn't get to spend the day together it wsa still a good day. We are planning on going to a nice restaurant next week to celebrate since we had so much going on this week. Anyone want to volunteer to baby-sit?!!