My Future Photographer

Kain loves taking pictures with Mommy's camera, and guess what he really isn't half that bad for a two year old. These are a few of the pictures that he took of his family. There was the picture of Mommy and Raelyn, but ended up just being a picture of Mommy. So we tried again of course, and well that ended up being just a picture of Raelyn, but a very nice one minus my chin. Then last of all there is the picture of Mike seeing Kain with the camera, which he wasn't suppose to have at the time, and Daddy asking for it back. I think that as he gets older he will be pretty good at taking pictures he just needs a bit of practice and his own camera to use. It would be great to have a photographer in the family.

As the Time Flies By... I Count My Blessings

I really can't believe how fast time can get away from you. As I sit and stare at my beautiful baby girl I can't even fathom that she is already two months old, and how much she has changed since she was born. Really when I think about it, it was just a few months ago where she was still in my tummy moving and wiggling around. She was also on a pretty regular basis jabbing her little elbows into my ribs. It is so hard to comprehend that she was once living inside of me, this beautiful little angel. Everything about her is so miraculous, from her beautiful blue eyes to her strong persistence to get healthy and strong. She went through so many hardships after she was born and took them all so graciously. Even when she was a new born and hooked up to all these things a small little smile was not far from her precious little rose bud lips. It helped me to stay strong in a time that was a great challenge for me. I hope that she is still able, when she is older, to smile during trials and hardships, and make a difference for those around her. My love for her grows more and more every day, and makes me more aware to try not to stress, which is a hard one for me, and make the most of the life I have with my family. To stop letting time pass me by and stop and watch my wonderful little ones grow.

Kain the Basket Case

After I get done folding laundry the empty laundry baskets usually end up staying by the door to the basement for a couple of days or so. Or they stay there at least until I need to go back down into the basement. I am a tad on the lazy side when it comes to that, I know. So the other day I was getting ready to run downstairs and went to grab the baskets to take with me, but they were no where to be seen. I could not figure out where they could have gotten until I walked into the living room and low and behold there they were. And there Kain was, sitting inside of them. Kain's kitty Mana was there playing with him to biting at his little toes as they poked out of the basket, but I was not fast enough to get the silly kitty in the picture with him. The funniest thing about it to me was I remember doing the same kind of thing with the laundry baskets at my house when I was little too. He had a blast playing with them for a good chunk of the morning. Kain really has such a great imagination for a two and half year old. He makes me laugh so much, he is such a little joy.

Kitty in the Sink

So in the mist of my painting the bathroom. One of our three fuzzy felines decides he wants to spend some time with me. Haru happily makes his way past the paint, which I think he is going to knock over, and crawls right into the sink. What a goofy kitty. After this time he has been spending more and more time laying in the sink. It must be pretty cozy since he fills the whole thing.

Clean House

So in the last couple of weeks I have had spring fever so badly. The house has been feeling stuffy, unorganized and dirty and I am so antsy. I decided to take matters into my hands and start to get the house in the condition that I have wanted for so long. Since we moved in the house I have been pregnant and limited on the kinds of things I was able to do. Now I can go full out. So I headed over to Menard's and got paint for just about every room, minus Mike and my bedroom, and got to work. First the mud room, where I painted everything and laid down a new title floor, then the kitchen walls, living room walls, and then bathroom walls and I put a new floor in there also. All this in one week while I also took care of a two year old and baby. I did have a bit of help from my sister in the living room, but other then that I went solo. I was pretty proud of myself to say the least. Now the hard part, painting all the wood work in the house. I have slowly been working on that. Yesterday I was able to get all the doors painted, but there is still so much more to do. I still need to paint the kid's bedroom walls, but I want to wait till I can open the windows. I don't want Kain to sleep in there while there is that icky paint smell. Soon enough I should have everything done, and in a month or so we should be getting started on remodeling the basement. It will make such a huge difference, having that extra space. I can't wait.

A Brief Family History

Mike and I met through a mutual friend and hit it off pretty much right off the bat. We started to date a few months after we met and then we moved to Milwaukee together about a year later. Soon we found out the we were going to be having a baby, a preterm scare and eight and a half months later our baby boy Kain was born, and what a joy he has been. Mike and I got married a year later and Kain got to be the cutest ring bearer there ever was. Life was good. We decided that our apartment was starting to get a bit small for our expanding family and started the search for a home to call our own. In May we purchased our new house and a week later found out that we would be welcoming our second addition to the family. Unfortunately the second pregnancy wasn't quite as enjoyable as the first and we had a few complications. Raelyn Kristina was born January 7th a whole month before she was due. Because of that her lungs were a bit under developed and had to have a week long stay in the NICU at the Children's Hospital. She then was home for about 2 weeks and then had to spend another week in the hospital with RSV. So her start to life was a bit of an adventure, but she is now healthy and growing stronger everyday. And that puts us to pretty much where we are right now. Getting settled into a four person family, starting to do some remodeling to our home, and getting ready and enjoying the beautiful spring weather.

A New Start

It has been a challenge trying to keep with things here at the house, with the children, and keeping all our friends and family updated on family status. I have been behind on keeping our family website up to date and time just keeps on flying by. So I decided that if I have two places with family info, at least when I get a bit behind there will be two places people can go to get the scoop on the Brandts. It will take me a bit, I think to get things up and running on this blog so please bear with me. For the mean time feel free to check out our website at www.easysite.com/BrandtFamily I will try and get some of the things more up to date on there later today. :)