A Saturday Night Like No Other

You can never reproduce a special night with dear friends, but something changed Saturday night that will make it officially impossible to recreate it.  Let me back up a little bit...

So, we went over to Uncle Nate and Aunt Megan's house for dinner.  Koen, Tav and Alex had a blast playing.  The adults enjoyed catching up and Fresca, the husky, put up with it all.  Megan and Nate are such great hosts and made us a delicious Mexican meal.  Here's where I should mention that at this point Megan was nearing the end of her pregnancy, expecting her 2nd little boy.  Megan neglected to let us know that she was having some contractions while we were there.  And I guess that shortly after we left her water broke.  Next we heard was that she delivered Andrew Thomas at 11:47pm only an hour after getting to a bed in the labor/delivery unit of the hospital.  Whew!!  What an evening!  Congratulations to Nate and Megan.  And Alex, you are in for quite a fun life with a little brother to share it with as I'm sure you noticed with Koen and Tavin's enjoyable play together on Saturday night.  We love you all and are praying for you as you transition into life as a family of 4!

Here are the pictures I caught that special evening...the last time we gathered with us as a family of 4 and you all as a family of 3.  Can't wait to meet Andrew Thomas and begin making memories in this next phase!

The favorite game of the night was push toys around and around the house.  It was a racket, but the boys were super happy with it, so the adults just talked louder and enjoyed that the kids were entertained.

As you can see, Tav got the reject push toy which is really the trailer for the locomotive that Alex is pushing. Tav had no idea and loved riding it.  So cute.  By the way, notice how beautiful Fresca is and I have to note that she has come a long way since she was our dog.  She was so docile amidst the chaos.  Nate and Megan have done a great job with her and her age seems to really have settled her down.

Nate & Megan recently did a kitchen remodel and they included a new play kitchen for Alex. Our boys loved playing with it and making us all sorts of imaginary treats.

Another funny favorite was a Curious George jack-in-the-box.  There was some fighting over it between my boys (and Tavin can be a little rough trying to protect what he wants, so Alex got the brunt of that a little).  All 3 of them would laugh as Curious George popped out of the box.  So simple!

Sunday Brothers

This morning the boys were looking all cute in their Sunday outfits (Koen actually picked his out all on his own, often Sunday outfits are renegotiated when he picks them out).  So I asked if I could take a few pictures before we left.  They conceded (well, really it was just a discussion between Koen and I) on the condition that we do a silly picture, then a real smiles picture.  Here's what I got...

The Sun Will Rise

Koen and I love this song from an album by The Brilliance.  They are the band that stayed here last year at Labor Day.  The lead singer, David Gungor, is also a dad and was so kind to Koen.  He gave him lots of attention and even played the piano with him a few times.  Koen has been a big fan ever since and we often listen to their music in the car.  Koen has memorized this little chorus from the album.  It's precious hearing him sing it to himself in his room.  Enjoy.  It pretty much brings me to tears.

A Glimpse at Soccer Practice

Koen and Doug headed off to another brisk morning of soccer practice this AM.  This week Tavin and I escorted them there and then spent an hour and a half between Target and Home Depot slowly running errands and hanging out together.  It was so nice.  Meanwhile, Doug was out with dozens of 5 and 6 year olds running around trying to help teach them some soccer skills.  He has been describing the practices in recent weeks as slightly controlled chaos, but I was actually quite impressed at the work that was being accomplished when we arrived a half hour early to catch a glimpse of big brother, Koen, practicing.  Here are a bunch of pictures.  Excuse Doug, the puffalump, don't worry, he hasn't become the Michelin man, he's just wearing a jersey over a puffy coat.  I don't think it's going to catch on in the fashion world, but at least he was warm (and humorous-looking!). Here's Koen kicking and then the kid in the middle is learning how to block.

Koen is the backup blocker in this shot.  Look at his readiness!

Now Koen is the blocker.

And another blocking photo.

And now an action shot (unfortunately the ball got past him).

Another kicking exercise.  Nice action shot.  Koen loves it!

Tavin enjoyed watching brother, but he really liked playing on the playground.  That was a highlight after sitting in the carts at Target and Home Depot (although he is quite the little errand co-pilot).  Here he is getting up his courage to do a slide.  Once he went down he just did it over and over again.

A nice start to our family day.  Tonight we are headed to Nate & Megan's for dinner.  Hopefully I will get some pics this time of all our boys together and maybe a prego pic of Megan and I (she is due in only a few days!).

V is for Violin

Koen's preschool class continues to work their way through the alphabet and as the year is nearing a close, they are also nearing the letter Z.  This week was V week.  Doug enjoyed his time with Koen's class during P week so much that he offered to coordinate a special activity for V week as well.  With all the talented musicians at our church, Doug was sure he could find a few violinists that would be willing to come in and play for the kids and perhaps teach them a thing or two about violins.  Doug took Koen early yesterday and they picked up Stephanie and Molly at Pitt on their way to school (with a stop at Starbucks as a little thank you to the girls).  These girls are so talented.  They have blessed us by serving in the worship ministry at our church and I know they blew away the teachers at preschool with their impressive music skills as well as their way with the children.  The kids were all big fans and enjoyed the special presentation.  

Here is an example of what they did.  The class is singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" as the girls play.  

The girls also showed the kids how to pluck and they all got a turn.  Here's a shot of Koen taking his turn.

Thanks so much to Stephanie and Molly.  Koen's teachers loved your visit and I'm sure all the kids appreciated the fun change of pace.  We were so thankful you could come in yesterday.  And congratulations finishing your finals!!

4 Boys for a Morning

Today Kyndal had asked me to watch Kaiser and Porter while she had a morning hair appointment.  I figured it would be a fun distraction for my boys.  But as the day grew closer I was getting a little nervous about Koen having to just be stuck here for a morning surrounded by toddlers.  He can often be helpful in that scenario, but he can also get super silly and then the little ones feed off of that and it's basically pandemonium.  Then I had a fabulous brainstorm.  We could all go to the Pittsburgh Toy Lending Library instead!  So, I asked Kyndal about that and she loved the idea.  We met there this morning at 10:15am.  My boys took right off and started to play and after a quick chat, Kyndal slipped out and I was left with 4 boys under 5 in my care, but thankfully amidst a safe and very fun atmosphere.  It went very well.  Porter was a little sad at first, but he totally rose to the occasion and just seemed to settle by the strength of his will and then he was perfectly happy and content.  Koen did very well sticking to the rules and only had one real time out to settle down.  Kaiser was great as well.  Tavin was a little dramatic if his favorite toys were used by others, but other than that, he was perfectly happy to just roam around and ride around on/with the different favorites he found.  Here are some pictures of us keeping very, very busy! 


In the beginning there were very few kids there as you can see, but that quickly changed.  Most kids were great at playing alongside each other, there were a few strong-willed boys there, but Koen navigated it quite well (Tavin I have to watch out for, I saw him push a little boy!).

Check out Tav's hilarious face!  And as you can see, Porter was just fine with me hanging out with him (made me so happy!).  Also, Porter is the son of a blogger, so he's used to having to smile for pictures as you can tell.

 The Braly boys concentrating...Kaiser working with dinos and Porter working on a puzzle.

 Koen pulled over from his super fast trike racing to help Tavin with his odometer.

Koen and Kaiser spent quite a bit of time in the castle.  They are such cute buddies.  Koen came up with all sorts of ideas for them to play.  Some ideas Kaiser liked and went along with and others he told Koen, "no."  I was proud of him for not being overpowered by a bigger boy.

 Toolman Kaiser hard at work!

Tavin finally got out of the toy car and found a school bus and some Little People to play with, of course.  A favorite at home, so why wouldn't he want to play with it here where there are dozens of new things to choose from!

Kaiser spotted the craft section very soon after we first arrived, but for the first hour or so it was packed with other kids.  He kept asking to go in, but I kept saying we had to wait.  Finally, around 11:15am we headed in to do crafts.  The boys were all very excited.  Porter was a champ.  He sat in this chair doing Play-Doh for at least 30 minutes.  So cute!  (Don't worry, Kyndal, that's not a random glass of milk I gave him, it's a toy from the kitchen area).

Is that a spaceman working with Play-Doh?  Yep, Koen wasn't ready to part with the Astronaut uniform when we went into the craft area.  

Check out Tav's puffy cheeks.  I don't know what was up with him this morning, but he had his cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk in concentration or consternation all morning! 

 The little guys eventually moved on to coloring (but soon went back to Play-Doh).

 And the big boys moved on to painting.  They loved it.

Koen was so impressed by the craft area with all its supplies.  He is really enjoying exploring his creative side these past few months.  I love it.  Such a great activity.  Here he is posing (facing the wrong way though) next to his painting.

Around noon I got the boys set up for lunch.  They are all great eaters and blew through their meal so that they could get back to playing ASAP.

The only shot I got after lunch was of Tavin on the trike.  He figured it out right before lunch and basically spent the rest of the time at the PTLL riding the trike around and around and around.  

Kyndal got back around 1pm.  I couldn't believe how quickly the time had gone.  And I love the PTLL.  It was such a great spot to keep all 4 of these guys entertained and active.  It was also a little confidence boost for me.  I have days where I wonder how I'll manage with 3.  Well, today, at least for a day, I got by with 4.  Not only that, another mom this morning actually said, "you make it look so easy!"  Well, thanks for the vote of confidence.  It will go far, or at least until my number 3 gets here and I'm navigating this day in and day out!  Great hanging with you this morning, Kaiser and Porter.  The boys had a blast with you!

Best Buds

Last night our ex-neighbors (they sold their house last week and moved out on Friday), but dear friends forever, came over for dinner.  The kids were all so excited to be together.  They are such cute friends.  Tavin and Huxley just love keeping up with their bigger siblings, but they also do so well together.  I wish I had taken more pictures of all the fun they had.  The problem is that Doug and I enjoy Hilary and Alex too much to bother picking up the camera.  So, this is all you get, but it is a glimpse of the craziness that ensued in the backyard before dinner was served...

We will miss having you on the street, dear friends, but we are so thankful you are just a few miles down the road and there will be plenty of fun get-togethers to look forward to.

Special Tavin Time

I can't say enough how much I enjoy my days with Tavin.  We absolutely love our days with big brother, but these preschool days when it's just Tavin and I doing our own thing are to be treasured for sure.  This morning we hung around the house and played for awhile, then we took a walk to Whole Foods.  After that we were headed to Shadyside to visit Kassi's new baby, Lincoln again (Tavin and I are both crazy about babies!).  It was our first time needing to use the walking bridge that just opened a few months which connects the East Side complex to Ellsworth Avenue.  I took a picture (with the timer!) for the occasion.  People probably thought I was nuts. =)

I didn't end up getting any pictures of us with Lincoln, which I'm bummed about because he is such a cutie and he was totally awake!  I was too distracted chatting with my good friend, Kassi, holding sweet Lincoln and keeping Tavin busy (he was of course awesome with this adult visit as usual on our days together).  On the way home I let him walk on the streets leading to our house where there isn't much traffic and no big hills to keep a pace up.  He was so proud of himself.  Close to home he found a stick to keep with him.  He kept pointing it at me and making a funny sound (like a magic wand with a cold perhaps?) and then one time he said, "baby" and made the noise.  I guess he was doing the same thing to the baby in my belly.  Hilarious.  Such a personality in this little guy.  Here he is with his stick.  Not the best pic since his hat is low, but he's so cute in his little overalls and he would be happy to know that everyone can see him being a big boy walking on the way home.

Well, my Tavington Bear, thanks for another great day together.  I will be sad when the preschool year ends for several reasons, but the biggest one will be that we will be ending this sweet chapter in your young life.  Our mornings for just you and I to be together.  Don't worry, buddy, with big brother in Kindergarten 5 mornings a week next year and our baby only a few months old, we'll still get some special moments.  But I have to say I am soaking up these final weeks of "Special Tavin Time."

Koen, The Singer/Songwriter

Even though I was jam-packing lunch-making, cleaning, prepping for the day, etc. into the time before I get the boys up at 8am, I had to pick up the camera and record the hilarious, yet super sweet music and lyrics coming from Koen's monitor.  Enjoy his sweet voice, guitar strumming and made-up lyrics (all to somewhat recognizable tunes from Christmas and hymns he knows).

Koen's 5 Year Checkup

Today was Koen's 5 year appointment. I can't believe how grown up he is! He weighed 39.6 lbs and was 44 inches tall. His weight was in the 50th percentile and his height in the 75th. He's been pretty consistent for years in these percentiles. The doctor mentioned how he's going to be tall and Koen was excited thinking about getting taller than msyelf and his Daddy most likely! Here is the tall 5 year old doing his eye test. They didn't tell me what his vision was, but it seemed to me that his left eye was stronger than his right, but maybe that was just because he had to do his right eye first and he was more familiar with the line of letters the second time around.

Next Koen had a hearing test. He was supposed to say, "beep," every time he heard a noise in his ear from the testing instrument. He didn't really get it the first few times, but eventually he put it all together. It was really cute watching him trying to figure it out. The nurse was really patient with him.

Koen was very cooperative. Even about wearing the funny papertowel/blue marshmallow covering they gave him. He really likes our doctor who is great at making Koen feel comfortable and important. The strength tests were Koen's favorite because the doctor kept telling him how strong he was. 

Tavin was quite unsure of what exactly was going on. He looks a little dismayed. He was a trooper as usual though, just hanging out and being patient. It was cute when the doctor first came in because the doctor kept asking Koen questions and Tavin kept answering in his gibberish/real words. It was so adorable.

It is such a blessing to leave the doctor's office with such a strong, healthy big boy. I'm so thankful for the boys' health and strength. What an amazing gift.

Busy Saturday

Yesterday was a busy day for the Melders! It's been one of those weekends I guess. But surprisingly, it's all worked out quite well and been a great family time and the boys have dealt with it all very well. So, back to yesterday... I had a baby shower thing to attend in the morning, but Doug had to take Koen to soccer and assistant coach that activity. Our friend, Megan, came by to hang out with Tavin. Here's a very cute picture of the two of them. Tavin is so comfortable with Megan. He didn't mind at all when I left and obviously you can see here that he's a happy guy! 

Megan also gave me this video of Tav playing in the playroom. He was filling up his garbage truck with gas. Pretty cute!
 
So, Tav was having fun, and I was definitely having a great time with girlfriends at the baby shower eating amazing brunch food and talking about babies, but poor Doug and Koen! They were stuck in the 45 degree weather in the constant rain playing soccer and freezing! Doug ended up catching a ride home so that he could get Koen warmed up before an afternoon birthday party Koen got to attend. Tavin was thrilled to see Daddy and Koen and asked if he could help get Koen cleaned up. Doug said OK and Tav scampered upstairs, but first stopped to say, "Bye Bye, Miss Megan" and blew her a kiss! To keep the cuteness going, look at how hard he is concentrating on helping clean brother. Not to mention, how nice is Koen to let Tav do it! 

I returned home just in time to pick up a warmed up Koen and get him to the birthday party on time. It was the first time we had dropped him off at a party. We were confident in the home, parents and little friends that would be there, but it was still a big deal to me to drop him off and go home for a few hours without him. To continue the craziness of the day, shortly after I got home I laid Tavin down for nap and then Doug had a couple for premarital counseling arrive for a session. I kept busy upstairs until I got Koen at 3pm. Then he and I watched a movie while I ironed and he had some chill time. Seriously, could we have packed in much more? Amazingly, it all worked out great. Koen stayed in wonderful spirits despite his big day and Tav took a great nap and loved being with all of us that evening. Doug and I laid the boys down right on time and then made our favorite in-house date night treat, pizza. We deserved a simple, relaxing night and that's what we had. Ahhh... A good day indeed!

Time With Tav & Then More Friends

Doug and Koen left for preschool at 8:45am. Today was a field trip day and Doug had volunteered to chaperone. Pretty cute. Then at 9:30am, Sarah and Richard left to head back to DC. So, it was just Tav and I after that. Last night I had told him, don't worry buddy, tomorrow we'll have the whole morning just for you and me. He was pretty excited. He loves the hustle and bustle of guests, friends and big brother, but he was getting quite worn out too. So, after we had the house to ourselves, we played a little and slowly got ourselves ready for a nice walk and final destination at a playground where Doug and Koen could pick us up after preschool. Here's my little walking buddy. Seriously, overalls and baseball caps are an adorable combination. And isn't his smile just one of the best?Tavin and I were very productive dropping off a RedBox, stopping at Market District, Whole Foods, the bank and Target, all within an hour. Then we finished our walk to the playground. Tavin walked once we were on a safe sidewalk. It was so sweet because he just wanted to hold my hand the whole time. I love this age! He had fun getting my full attention at the playground. We created a game with some gears that are built into the equipment. He would turn them, but from the other side I would spin them so hard he would lose track. It made him absolutely lose it with laughter. Here he is hard at work...And here he is cracking up. So cute!Koen and Tavin played together awhile after Doug got there with the big brother. Then we headed home for lunch. While I made lunch, Doug stopped to say hi with our neighbors who are actually moving today to a different neighborhood (so sad!!). In so doing, he could tell that they could really use a hand with the kids. So, they came home with him too. Look at the buddies!The kids played well together after lunch. Then I laid Huck down, then Tav. The big kids had some quiet time reading books and then doing some craft time with me while Doug shut his eyes just a few minutes. Then at 2:45pm, Doug took Delia and Koen to Highland Park for awhile. They entertained one another very well and stayed in great spirits. Doug actually said it was no big deal. Very impressive! Here are the sweet little friends...Tav thankfully took a great nap today. Koen just got home a little while ago and is still in good spirits (although I'm thinking we will see some crazy tiredness soon). We let him watch a show until 5pm. Doug and I are going on a date tonight. Well deserved after a fun-filled week of friends and entertaining. The kids will enjoy their cozy beds after all the hub-bub as well. I'm sure we'll all be refreshed tomorrow.

Koen, I mean, Peter Cottontail

Koen continues to really enjoy crafts. He's loving his Crayola kit that he got at his birthday last week. We use it almost daily. Although coloring, cutting and glueing things is a lot of fun, we stepped it up yesterday afternoon. Koen has been requesting a special hat lately and around Easter I had the novel idea that a bunny hat would be fun. Then we kept forgetting to do it. Well, yesterday I finally remembered the idea and Koen was 100% behind it. Look how proud he is!And my personal favorite part, the cottontail...He's been wearing it and hopping around the house every since. He even wore it to preschool to show off to his teacher (she of course loved it). I have to say that as a self-labeled non-creative person, I take a little pride in these simple crafty successes too. Thanks for a fun activity, Koen! You are my favorite Peter Cottontail hopping around!