My Sweet Littles Saying Their Prayers and Dancing on Couches!

You must think that I only have two children with the fact that only Josephine and Maxwell appear to be in my videos.  Sometimes I feel as if I only have two children.  But I actually have three:  Sweet Adelyne, as well.  It’s just that, at 9 years of age, Sweet Adelyne has the most social of social calendars of ANYONE I know.  Not just of 9 year olds. Of anyone—9 or 90—that I know.

It’s awesome fabulous—because, you know, we live in this foreign land called Poland.  And it’s awesome fabulous that my daughter is not a foreigner in this foreign land—she is a Pole.  A proud one.  And she lives her life as a full-blown Polish gal.  Romping, playing, going to school, studying, extra curricular activities, and so forth.

She breathes White and Red.  I am so thankful to God for that!

But that also means when I am at home being Mommy 24/7…(last night daddy actually was home and by 6pm, so we had family pizza night.  twas awesome!)…

Anyhow…As I play this magical and amazing role of Mommy 24/7, I tend to video those subjects most around me:  Which would continue to explain the absence of Adelyne and Richard 🙂  Neither tend to be around me that often…

Hmmm?????  Perhaps it’s me?!  Haha!

Once again, I really hope you enjoy the videos of the Littles that steal my every moment—even my potty breaks.  But they fill my life with such amazing miraculous wonder, I can’t help but love my every minute.

Here continues the sweet adventures of my Littles, Jo and Max!  Enjoy.

GoGo, will you dance with me?  Asks her awesome Big Bro Maxwell!

Trying to get two toddlers that share a room to settle down and pray is oh so stinking sweet!

I walk into the living room and find Max on top of the couch dancing to Christmas music (yes—we’ve been playing it ever since the chill hit the air!).

I wish you all well and lots of warm love, Christmas music, and overall contentment with where God has placed you in life.

xo for now,

b

Laundry Mountain and Maxwell with his pretty shoes.

When you have one boy and two girls, you will most likely see your boy dressing as a girl than the other way around.  Now, mind you, he will have a wooden sword in one hand while prancing in pretty silver shoes at the same time.

But you do see his Batman underwear, right?

It’s like he’s all boy — with a dainty side 😉

Anyhow, I thought you may enjoy my laundry adventures with Max and Jo.  Which pretty much means I get no laundry done.

But I get the moments of love with my kids (although I am sure Josephine was feeling a little too loved tonight).

Have a great day and enjoy the episodes of Laundry Mountain!

xo b

Laundry Mountain and Maxwell Pretty Shoes!

Snow angels in the clothes!

GoGo my special sister!  Declares Maxwell.  Jo does NOT feel the love tonight 😉

I am a SAHM. I should get used to it.

I am a working mom—yet find myself home nearly every day with my kids.  And it’s glorious but not glamorous.

I had a lot of fun one day documenting segments of my day with my kids.

Here is my glorious but definitely not glamorous life.

Get popcorn!

Xob

What you do for your children’s critters!

Is Cami finally happy 😉 ?  Nah.

Two kittens found their way into our basement.  The kids were thrilled!

Seriously—my bald baby has no idea how disgustingly dirty our basement floor actually is.  Gag!

If I wasn’t already the overly tired nearly 40 yr old mother of toddlers—I would have more energy for this 😉

Yes…to reiterate—I am wearing clothes.  Just meant I couldn’t head outside because was too chilly for my basketball shorts, tank top, and flip flops 😉

I actually filmed so many more but they refused to download.  Perhaps it was an electronic rebellion,eh?!

God bless—and kiss those crazy babies.  Glamorous or glorious—all moments are treasures.

Xo b

This is my life…

well, i just always want to write, but my mind is one huge blank sheet of paper.  so tired.  and pretty much filled with only toddlers.

yes, i would love to say that they are inspirational writing prompts—but, really, they are simply just inspirational life suckers 😉

take last night—we finally arrive home after an entire afternoon celebrating children’s day in kalisz (a couple hours from our home) when i throw them in the bathtub thinking that they’ll love to play.  before long, the bathtub stinks and the water is colored.

sure enough.  josephine soiled our tub.

so i pull out two wet babies and take them to the shower now—draining the tub.  then they play for an hour in the shower.

as i pull them out, wrap towels around them and bring them to the living room to diaper them and put them in pjs for bed, josephine promptly went number one on the carpet.

then max—unpottytrained max—decided that peeing on the carpet looked like fun, so he said, now i go pee pee here (and proceeded to pretend pee on the carpet).

yes.  my mind is blank.

but happy.

and my children are poopy messes.

but happy.

and this is all i can write—because my brain functions not.

oh—and our dogs are locked up all day during our home renovations and the minute they got out they broke the neighbor dogs leg by jumping all over it (yes, the dog is fine and the vet fixed the leg and we paid for the leg and the dog is still happy—so PHEW there :)).

yes…i wonder why i can’t write?

no, i pretty much know why 🙂

hope you enjoy our photos anyway.  haha!

xoxo from here to there,

b

(messy josephine after a good day of playing in the dirt and eating oreos…and the new life center—see bread of life ministries on Facebook—and max butt naked but phased out.  yes.  this is my life and i THANK GOD for it.  truly.)

Yes, he did ask for salt and breasts…Humility with humor, right?!

You know…languages are difficult.  Especially if your name is Richard and you can’t hear the difference between the sound that e makes and the sound that a makes.

But, oh the words he knows in Polish—he’s so proud of!  And he uses them.  As much as possible.  Because he knows them so well.  Or so he thought.

And this is how the story goes…

Once upon a time there was a man named Richard and his wife, Brooke (that’s us!).  And they had been living in a foreign land, called Poland, for nearly 11 years.  It was summer, and they were enjoying a wonderful meal at a restaurant by a lake—enjoying the sun, the surroundings, and the food.

And that’s when it happened.  Our food was brought out, and my husband asked for it!

Yep…Salt and Breasts, please!

Now, normally I don’t pay attention to the little things.  After all, we have all heard the expression—don’t sweat the small stuff.  But, for the first time in nearly 11 years, I stopped and listened when my husband made an “innocent” request to the poor, unsuspecting server.

“Salt and Breast, please!”

Yep.  It’s what he said.

And, so, I looked at him and said, “What did you say?”

He repeated his request, “Sol i piers, prosze bardzo.”  He is a very polite gentleman.  Or should we now scratch that word, “Gentleman”?  Hmmm…

I looked at him and said, “Do you know what you asked for?”

The look he gave me was priceless…almost like saying, “Duh?!  I’m not stupid!”

“Yes, of course.  Salt and pepper.”

Shaking my head in great amusement I replied, “Um…no.  You asked for ‘Salt and Breast’.”

And, of course, that’s when we had a very detailed language lesson between the word “Piers” and “Pieprz” in Polish.

Needless to say, the lovely waitress DID NOT bring us salt and breasts.  And so I had to get up and go to the counter and ask, using the correct words, for “Sol i pieprz, prosze bardzo.”  Which I got and returned to the table.  To an amused and slightly embarrassed husband.  And to our food.

Now that I think back over the last nearly 11 years, I see it clearly…We were never brought our salt and pepper.  Obviously, the reason being, he wasn’t asking for “Pepper” was he?

I guess I should be glad they never returned with a large-breasted woman holding a single jar of salt.  Haha!

Humor with humility, folks.  That’s how we live our lives.

To wrap up our humbling lives—someone once asked me, “How did you never hear what he asked for before that time?”

It’s a good and fair question, and this is all I could say, “You know, sometimes we tune out the every day stuff.  And it must be what I did.”

So, as you enter 2014, I would also like to remind you of this…

Perhaps you, too, should pay a little more attention to the simple “every day” stuff that life is made up of.

It could save you a whole lot of embarrassment.

On the other hand, it could also cost you a priceless story.

Happy 2014’s Eve, friends!

Go, and order correctly.

Happy…Happy…Happy, Jack!

Total Duck Dynasty Fan…but today’s not about them, ya’ll!  Even though I do waddle like a duck, and we are family!  (Well, maybe you and I aren’t, but Jenny and I are—pictured above).

So, the beautiful tiny lady next to me is my super awesome and lovely sister-in-law.  But we always tell her that she’s the sister, my brother is the in-law!  Just kidding.  That just goes to show how much we love that lady!

And something fun…She is also a geriatric pregnant lady!  Woot-woot.  Wait.  How come she looks so much better than I?  Hmmmm.  Better check into her secrets 😉

Anyhow, we had a bit of fun today.  We both had doctor appointments.  Her 14th week.  My 33rd week.  We go to the same office, and after we saw each other at my parents house.  We were visiting my dad who just had massive back surgery.  By the way, he’s looking GREAT.  Thanks for asking (even though you didn’t).

And since we were both there at the same time, and I actually have makeup on, a bra on, and am actually in clothes (no, I don’t run around naked, but I do spend my entire bed rest days in comfy pjs), we thought we better seize the day and take a preggo picture together.  After all, with my cervix, no one knows how long my little Josephine is gonna hang in my utero.

But, let’s get back to the Happy, happy, happy!  Today I had a great visit.  Nope.  Cervix still ready for labor.  Good news, however, since I’m 33 weeks, I received the glorious news that I will only remain on “strict” bed rest for 1 more week.  That means I can do more than make a trip to the toilet, shower, or fridge.   Woo hoo.

But I did receive a gold star today.  I was told that for the last 2 weeks I have been a GREAT patient.  Yeah, baby!  Of course, you A2MC readers have also been getting the contraction pain and psyching myself out stories.  Oops.  Sorry.  Thanks for reading my episodes of preterm insanity.

Anyhoo…to end my happy day, I gotta share what the doc said to me today.

First, you should know that the office I attend has 7 doctors.  Any of the 7 can deliver you.  Therefore, as you near the end of your pregnancy, it’s a good idea to make sure that you meet them all.  Today was the first time I had the new doc.  A woman.  And she walks in all happy and smiling.  Like I said, I’ve been a good patient.  She tells me my baby, in my belly, is also happy, happy, happy with all of the kicks she counted in the time we were hooked up.  Gold Star to Josephine, too.

And then, she looks again at my chart and says, rather enthusiastically, “Oh WOW!   You’re 37?!  Congratulations!”

A compliment?  A proclamation of astonishment? I have no clue.

What is the appropriate response to such an enthusiastic proclamation?  A  High Five or some hand slapping?

Who knows.

In any case, it’s been a LONG two weeks since I got the news that my baby was ready to come ANY DAY!

And it’s been a long TWO weeks since my baby boy Maxwell was put down, grocery store was left for my husband to venture, and my feet went up…

But we’ve made it to week 33, and we are THRILLED!

Soon and very soon, we are going to have a baby.  Now, that doesn’t mean in 1 week, but in any case, she is baking, happy, and I am only 4 weeks now until I technically reach “full term”.

Totally stoked!

Even if she comes before, I know that my little pineapple will most likely come slightly chubby, rather healthy, and her parents will be definitely HAPPY!

Here’s to a great HUMP DAY to you, friends.

Hope the rest of your week will bring as GREAT of news as ours today did.

Big belly hugs to all of you out there in the cyber world.

xo for now…

B, my Belly Josephine, and the rest of my crazy clan:  Richard (the handsome baby daddy), Adelyne (the really big sister), and Maxwell (the 18-month-old smiling sunshine!)

Related articles

• Sitting pretty…with my feet propped. (and2makescrazy.wordpress.com)

Yesterday I dated an ASU cheerleader…Richard blogs!

Daddies, date your daughters!

Yesterday, I was able to take my daughter to the ASU ladies’ volleyball game against the Utah Utes.  The game was a lot of fun.

We screamed, chanted, danced, laughed, sat with Sparky, and even had volleyball lessons from the ASU players after the game accompanied by autographs.

ASU did lose that day, but this daddy won with his little ASU cheerleader!

 

Dads, I guarantee it, every time you take your daughter out and spend time with her you will WIN too.

Not only is it time together, but it’s also an opportunity to build into your daughter’s character, showing her she is special, she is loved, and she is valuable.  She is worth your attention and time.  You have all the time in the world for her because she is your little girl!

Dads, I can’t say it enough, ‘Carpe Diem’ the days that you have with your daughter because, before you know it, one day too soon you will be walking her down the aisle and into a life and home of her own.

You don’t want to take that walk with missed opportunities.

So, while she still resides in your home, make sure to stop, smell the roses, pick a few for her, and take your daughter on a date.

In fact, don’t take her on one date, make it monthly.

You won’t regret it, and she won’t forget it!

Cousins, Ella and Kara, friend Katie, Uncle Casey, and, of course, Sparky!

First CRAZY Giveaway…Read on!

Totally stoked.  My husband was walking around in his “I love my awesome wife!” shirt today when he got so many compliments.  One woman even asked where she could buy it to give her husband some hints…

So today I am going to do something CRAZY!  Give 1 lucky person this awesome shirt!  Men—you can also win this for your wife!

Here are the rules.

1.  Sign up to follow and2makescrazy via email and THEN come back and write in comments that you did it—signed up.  If you are already signed up via email, simply write in comments that you are a Follower or the word Done!  Or any clever thing you want, honestly, like, “Give me the shirt!”  or “I really love my hubby!”  or “Win this one for the wife!”

2.  You can enter twice.  Want to know how?  Also go to And 2 Makes Crazy’s Facebook page and “Like” it.  Then come back and write in comments that you are done with that, too!  Or, if you are already a Facebook friend, just write, Facebook friend! in the comments.

3.  There you have it—two ways to enter and possibly be the lucky winner!

4.  Don’t worry what size the shirt is or WHERE in the world you live.  If you win, I will contact you personally via email and you can tell me size.  I will make sure it gets mailed straight to you—no matter the country!

5.  Giveaway ends Saturday, November 23rd, at 11:59pm.  At that time, I’ll have random.org pick the winner.  Could it be YOU?!

What fun…

Get going, sign up today.  And “Like” us on Facebook.  But, remember, in order to be in the contest, you have to make sure that you COMMENT!

Also, feel free to share this with your friends so that they can enter, too.

Now, I’ll leave you with this…

13 random facts about me?! Okay. I’ll try.

I liked a friend’s random facts she shared on Facebook.  I thought—Wow.  Those are fun facts.  Didn’t realize it was one of those fun pass-it-along games.  So she gave me 13 to come up with about myself.  Hmmm…I don’t even know 13 fun facts about me.  But I shall try.  Perhaps you can come up with a few about you and share, too!

1.  My mom and dad debated between naming me Brooke or Brandi.  Brooke Heidi probably does sound better than Brandi Heidi.

2.  I have a chicken-pox scar smack in the middle of my forehead.  But you probably can’t see it amongst all of my freckles, aka Angel Kisses 😉

3.  I kept my maiden name and added it as a second middle name.  So legally I have 4 names. My grandmother started this tradition (it’s probably from her Spanish roots).

4.  My great-grandmother was born in the Baja Territory and her birth certificate is entirely in Spanish.

5.  I have worn my wedding ring on my right hand for probably the last 10 years.  I guess that’s only unusual here in the States.  I finally switched over to my left hand this past year since we’ve been staying in the States again.

6. There are at least 4 big secrets in our marriage that we will never, ever, ever tell any of you.  Not even if you torture us.  Or pull out our toenails.   Nope.  They are ours.  They will never be yours.  Haha!

7.  I have always wanted to name a daughter Adeline since I was about 8 years old.  But, when we finally had our first baby and named her Adeline, my husband decided he liked the “y” in her name instead of the “i”.  So she is Adelyne with the Adeline sound to it.  And I like that it looks pretty that way.

8.  Although our wedding was a BLAST, I never grew up being all girly and planning a wedding.  Heck, 3 weeks before we actually got married, my sister and great friends helped pull together a wedding for me.  I did always know, however, that if I had an actual wedding event, I wanted to wear my mom’s dress.  Bam!  It worked out perfectly.  But I had to cut the sleeves off of it because it was about 106 degrees on our wedding day (outside).  Oh, yeah.  And I always wanted to get married in tennis shoes.  Worked too.  By the way, my mom bought her dress at Dillards for about $40 off the rack.  What a great deal, eh?  Two weddings and a $40 dress.  LOVE IT!

9.  I have a huge phobia of sharks.  HUGE.  On our honeymoon, in Puerta Vallarta, we watched a disturbing Discovery show about sharks.  And then the next day we rented a catamaran (don’t worry, my husband can sail).  Ummm…Let’s just say, I nearly had a heart attack in the middle of the ocean because I just knew what was coming…Da-dun.  Da-dun.  Da-dun, da-dun, da-dun!  In fact, before my family went to Hawaii when we were in high school, I sat up and said in my sleep, “I’ll get you, sharks!  Snip, snip.  Snip, snip!”  I guess I even made the finger motions of scissors and all.  Yes.  Sharks may be the heart attack death of me.  No. Joke.

10.  I have, since the 5th grade, wanted to be a journalist (be it newscaster or newspaper).  Then, when I went to university, I studied Hotel and Restaurant Management and Tourism for my first year instead.  Totally loved it, but decided it was not the field for me.  Eventually I went into teaching.  A big heart-thumping job there.  Loved it times infinity.  But, in the end, I wish that I had stuck with my 5th-grade dreams and pursued journalism in college.  Ah well.  Our childhood dreams rarely become our adult realities anyway, eh?!

11.  I have about 4 finished children’s books (stored in Poland) that I would eventually like to send off to agents.  But I bought a book, similar to finding a literary agent for dummies type-of-book, and realized that this whole getting into the publishing business is super confusing.  So, for now, my children’s books are shelved in Poland.  Wife, mommy, Bread of Life, and pastor’s wife come first.  One day, however, I hope that you’ll pick up a book for your kid or grandkid.  I’d heart that!

12.  I got a C in my computers class in college.  Why?  Because I didn’t understand this DOS thing and all of the other thingies we had to do to log in to a program.  And one professor demanded we use this thing called the Internet as one resource for one of our papers.  I had no clue how to even get on the internet.  Good thing I was dating Richard by this stage of my life.  He helped me dial it up.  Haha!  Love that I escaped university with only one paper that had to have one resource that came from the Internet.  I feel like a fossil.  Totally rad.

Phew…I made it to 13.

13.  Simple.  My favorite most delightful happy color that I love (yes, missing a lot of proper punctuation here) is YELLOW!  Yellow like a canary.  Like the sun.  Like the color that makes you feel happy.  Like the Forest Gump smiley face color.  Yep.  Yellow.  For as long as I can recall from even my childhood days.  I. Love. Yellow.

That’s 13 for me, folks.  Let’s just say, I’m glad she didn’t give me the number 20.

Hoping to hear some randomly weird, wild, or fun facts about you.  Go!

(Photo:  Dan Pan Photography)

Here’s the Muddy Sunday…In the words of Adelyne, “It was AWESOME!”

We had planned this awesome family day—Father and daughter team, mom and son spectators.  Cousins running.  And, most importantly, mud!

Maxwell and I had planned to follow them throughout the 5K and take lots of photos.  But the walking and the sun combination rendered me and my little buddy super tired and red.  Therefore, Maxwell and I set up camp at 3 different courses and waited for our Richie and Ada to mud on by.

And did they ever.  It’s going to be a photo blog today.  Hope you enjoy.  Ironically enough, it was a mud run that Rich and I ran the Saturday before we found out about our little Belly Josephine.  And now it was Belly Josephine’s turn to follow along (like she had a choice) as Maxwell and I chased after our loves.

Anyhow…enjoy our spectacularly muddy Sunday.

Runners, take your mark.  Get set…

Go!

Caught my cuties on the way to another obstacle!  Not too muddy yet.

But they couldn’t stay long…another obstacle to conquer.  So, she’s off, my sweet Adelyne.

With her fierce daddy competitor right behind her.

And the sweet, little brother waving them on.

For being November, it was a glorious day for a run (well, and a preggo waddle walk).

It’s time to roll in the mud.  Come on, Adelyne…your turn!

Way to get in the spirit!

Now let’s celebrate by doing the “Robot”!

And they’re off again to finish the race…It’s a final slide.

High 10!  We did it.

Now I’ll let you in for a little special…our Christmas picture.  Believe me…Maxwell and I were tempted to roll around in the mud, too.  But we resisted 😉

Hope your week is a little cleaner than our Sunday, but may it be just as full of togetherness, family, love, sunshine, mud, and fun!

xo for now…B and my Belly J (who we are praying stays put for a wee bit longer)

Related articles

• A Mud Run Kept Me in Arizona? No – but the belly is why I started the blog! Happy 2 months, #and2makescrazy (and2makescrazy.wordpress.com)
• Once upon a muddy Sunday…and a hospital visit Tuesday (and2makescrazy.wordpress.com)