May 2012.

May FLEW by this year.  We were insanely busy, but it was a lot of fun. The boys and I stay busy during the week.  The basic tasks of the day alone keep us quite busy, but we also sneak in time to go for walks, play outside, and run an occasional errand or go on a play date.  It's fun to see them start to play together as they get older.  Depending on his mood, Brennan likes to play and wrestle with them.  However he and Beckett cry a minimum of 3 times per day each because Kiernan has bitten/scratched/punched/pulled hair/stole a toy/somehow made him mad.  Someone is shaping up to be the bully of the family!  Brian is working quite a bit, so we make the most of our weekends together by spending time at the beach or finding some other fun activities.

Brennan is potty trained and sleeping in a "big boy bed".  He is incredibly smart and never fails to amaze us with the things he picks up.  He knows numbers up to 14(ish), almost all of the letters of the alphabet, all of his colors and shapes.  And he can even actually count things, which my early childhood development experts (ahem, my Mom and sister Teresa) say is pretty remarkable for a 2.5 year old.  Sometimes I have to remind myself that he is only 2.5 when I get frustrated with his behavior -- he's really only acting his age.

Craig, one of Brian's best friends, is getting married in July.  As one of the "best men", Brian planned a bachelor party weekend in Vegas for the first weekend in May.  From the time he left on Friday morning until he boarded the red-eye flight home late Sunday night, he had slept for a total of 3 hours.  He arrived home on Monday morning looking (and smelling) homeless.  After a very busy weekend, he had wandered around Vegas alone all day on Sunday because the rest of the group left early that day.  He crashed hard on the plane and slept the whole way home and probably burned the nose hairs of the poor girl sitting next to him.  He was full of stories when he got home, including the story about the drunken run.  I was so glad that he had fun. Brian works so hard both at work and at home and he really deserved a fun weekend with the guys.

While Brian was busy being drunk, the boys and I enjoyed a visit from my friend Janelle and her sweet girl Madeleine.  Maddie turned 1 in March, so she makes quite a good playmate for the boys.  She and Kiernan got along especially well.  It was so much fun to have them here.  We got to take them to our beloved zoo and just enjoy time together.  I hope their next visit will be able to be a bit longer, even though it probably won't be for awhile as they're expecting a little sibling for Maddie late this summer. 

The following weekend, I flew to Michigan for the wedding of a Caitlin, a close family friend.  Traveling by myself was a very odd, yet relaxing experience.  Packing took me all of 10 minutes instead of the normal 2 days.  I parked the car at the airport without having to drop anyone/luggage/carseats off first.  I breezed through security without having to worry about strollers or a million carry-ons.  I didn't have to worry about checking a bag as I didn't need to take much for just a few days.  I READ A BOOK AND ENJOYED A DIET COKE ON THE PLANE.  (Yes, this justifies all caps.  This is a huge deal.)  The weekend was fantastic.  It was great to relax and enjoy time with my parents and sisters.  I had lunch with my Dad and us girls went shopping and got manicures and pedicures.  I even got to celebrate Mother's Day with my Mom, which I haven't been able to do in a few years.  Brian held down the fort with the boys.  He got adventurous and took them out to lunch with his coworkers on Friday, to the beach with his coworkers on Saturday, and shopping for Mother's Day crafts on Sunday.  I think he thinks my job is super easy, although I know he'd never admit it to me. 

After 2 weekends apart, Brian and I were excited for some alone time.  So on Friday night my friend Laura came over to watch the boys while we headed out to dinner.  We have a few gift cards to use up from Christmas, so we enjoyed steaks at Outback and then headed to a local bar to have a beer or five.  It was nice to be able to reconnect after what seemed like 3 weeks apart.  Even though we sleep in the same bed every night, sometimes it seems like we don't really see each other much during the week. Date nights are so precious!

We were looking forward to some much needed family time too.  That weekend, we took the boys to the zoo.  I'm sure I've said it a million times before, but the Brevard Zoo is great.  They had a dinosaur exhibit up that was ending at the end of May and we wanted to be sure to see it.  The animatronic dinos were very cool and even though Brennan was a little scared at times, I think he really enjoyed it.  Even though we've been members there for over a year, we hadn't taken the opportunity to ride the zoo's train.  So while all 5 of us were there, Brian suggested that I take Brennan for a ride.  I was surprised to discover that there were a bunch of animals that you can't see while walking around the zoo, which was very cool.  And of course Brennan was THRILLED to ride the train.  After the zoo we headed to a place called Big League Burgers for lunch.  Brian had been there with his coworkers for lunch and loved it, and I can see why.  The burgers were HUGE (& I got the small one!) and delicious!  On Sunday we headed into Cocoa Beach with some friends to watch some power boat races.  Brennan was all excited and raced out into the water to "go ride big boats!"  He was disappointed to find out that riding them wasn't a possibility, but I still think he enjoyed watching them.

We told ourselves that we wouldn't go to the beach the following weekend because we needed to get a lot of stuff done around the house.  But we found out that our friends Roman and Lisa were celebrating their son Liev's first birthday at the beach on Saturday, so we headed out to celebrate with them.  We always have a blast when we go to the beach, so it's hard to stay away!  Sunday we headed to our friends' Clint and Lisa's house to celebrate their daughter Jenna's first birthday.  The party was adorable and Brennan always loves to play at their house with their 5 year old twin boys (and their toys).  Monday was of course Memorial day.  The boys physical therapist came over despite it being a holiday and Brian got to sit in on part of a therapy session.  Then Brian and Brennan headed out for haircuts and errand running.  When they got home, we put all the boys down for an afternoon nap, grilled some of Brian's DELICIOUS stuffed burgers, and enjoyed a nice, quiet early dinner together.

Tuesday and Wednesday were chaotic if nothing else.  I was busy doing laundry and packing to get ready for our trip to Michigan.  Brian was very busy at work since those were the only 2 days that he was working that week.  He worked so many hours on those 2 days that I'm not sure he really needed to take much vacation time for the week!  Thursday morning we got up bright and early and headed to the airport for a very busy whirlwind trip to Michigan.  I'll be sure to write more about that in the June update!

I think we're both looking forward to a more laid back June.  We have a few short visits from friends planned, as well as Father's Day festivities and I think Brian has something up his sleeve for my 29th birthday.  It'll be nice to have a relaxing month before the chaos of heading back to Michigan in July!