Pumpkins Smumpkins.

I was going to write a big long post about how frustrated I am with the high prices of pumpkins this year at the pumpkin patch. I was gonna say something along the lines of how upsetting it was to go to a pumpkin patch and leave without pumpkins because we couldn't stomach paying that much money for a vegetable that we planned to leave on the porch. Stupid pumpkins smumpkins.

But, after looking at that adorable picture of Khage and his Daddy holding hands, this all just seamed so insignificant and a change of topic may be in order.

Then again I am finding it very hard to forget about the three pumpkins for fifty bucks. And its not like we wanted to get one of those record breaking pumpkins that you see on the news with the farmer whose standing next to it and the thing is freaky bigger then him and hes got all five of his grand kids sitting on it with the biggest smirks of their lives and the dog to the left looks all scarred because he has no idea what that big orange thing is...

This rant of mine has run its course.  

Lets get back to my little smumpkin.

Romping in the mud and rain.

Finally it feels like fall. It did just officially turn into Fall a few short weeks ago, but we have been waiting for this kind of weather for months now. We celebrated the long awaited rain with some time rompin in the mud. We got Khage all booted up in his fall apparel so he wouldn't catch a chill and we headed for the empty field around the corner from our house.

He was more then willing to wear his owl head gear and I thank my lucky stars because I know how frustrating it can be to try and keep your babies warm when they refuse to wear the required attire. It was funny to see him watching his hands covered in owl mittens, he could not figure out why he couldn't grab anything. And he looked darn adorable and I could have eaten that face for lunch.

Only one three-wheeler is running, so one of us had to pull Khagey with the bicycle. It doesn't sound too bad but coming home there is quite the uphill climb so Brad courageously took on that battle.

We didn't get any pictures of us flying through the muddy marshes but we all had a great time. Including our little Khage who is already a professional rider; whenever we step on the gas he immediately throws each leg around the gas tank in preparation for a ride.  

As Brad took Khage around the field, driving slow and cautiously while he held Khage tightly around his full belly, it made my heart smile. The two of them together, doing what Brad loves with the little person he loves the most really just warms me right up. I thought I loved Brad plenty before we had a child and now I see Brad as a father, through Khages eyes, and it only makes me love him so much more. 

Fun In the Sun.

Last Friday we took a blanket outside and played around on what used to be grass while we waited for Daddy to get home from work. And now that the weather is cooling off, I am running out of excuses to keep this baby indoors. I try and let him just roam free and explore, but its hard knowing that the minute he gets more then arms reach away he will be shoving what ever he can find into that mouth for me to later find in his dirty diaper. I am doing my best to not be that hovering mother who is always super paranoid and looks at everything like a possible safety hazard... but this kid sure makes it hard.

 Can we all take a second and awww over those little leg creases. They are just one of the many baby body rolls that I will miss when my baby is replaced by a toddler and slowly walks off his baby chub.

Then finally Daddy got home and our weekend officially began.

And this is the main reason why Daddy will always trump Mommy in the fun department.

Pals, Chums or Buddies.

I don't boss any of you around much. So I hope you wont find me rude for doing so now, but as parents we just gotta look out for each other.

Have you heard of these Pillow Pets?

I am sure you have. We live like the Flintstones, without cable, and yet I have heard about these things. And because I am the cool Mom who stays on top of the must haves I tried to convince Brad that our little BamBam needs one of his own. At ten months old he is happy to play with his toothbrush, and to me thats an even better reason to get him one for being a boy happy with the simple things in life. But, sadly Brad is a snooze and doesn't get excited about petty things like stuffed animals that double as pillows, so he didn't think it was necessary.

But necessary or not Mama wants her baby to have this pillow. And I intended to buy one once Daddy was MIA on the next shopping trip. But before I even had the chance to go behind my husbands back, I stumbled upon a Pillow Chum. Or was it a pillow buddy, mate or palsy?

Now Costco is selling these pillows for 17 bucks and they are literally the size of 4 Pillow Pets. If any of you have checked out the price of the original Pillow Pets they are going for at least 20 bucks and they are tiny. Now that just drives me mad. So as my way of sticking it to the big man in his cool swivel chair, with his mahogany desk and that great view up on the top floor of the Pillow Pet factory and practically robbing people, I bought one! And because I am taking a stand against crime... how mad can Brad really be?

 It may be bigger then Khage. But like a good sweater that I bought him on discount a season early, he can just grow into it.

And consider that my service announcement for the month. Now go get your baby a mondo Pillow Pet knock off.

The Name Explained.

Some of you may have noticed that our blog went and got itself a makeover. Kudos to you for being observant. In addition to a fresh face... a new name has also been created. As you may already be able to tell our location {bradleyandjamee.blogspot.com} is still going to be our home sweet home on the web but we thought we could really do without the blasting of our last name all over the internet. There really are some freakos out there and I would just rather stay off their radar.

Bringing Up Baby is what you can call us now. And this name is personal on a not-so-personal bases. It was actually chosen from a film in which Bradley and I both enjoy. Which is really quite a miracle because when it comes to movie night at our house it entails allot of flipping through Netflix for 45 minutes before we just resort to reruns of The Office.

So Bringing Up Baby is an old black and white movie starring Carey Grant and Katharine Hepburn. Not my favorite Hepburn... shout out to Audrey... but the girl still can act. The movie is a romantic comedy, but an old fashioned romance so its not filled with a bunch of lamo lines that are sickening to Brads ears. And not to mention, but I will anyway, that Carey Grant is a swoon!

The silly thing about this film is that Baby... which the title is referring to... is actually not a baby at all but a pet leopard.

Yes, I said a pet leopard.

This is around the time where you have decided to not rent this film at all and maybe stop reading this post all together but I am telling you its good fun... just rent the movie.

Anyway, that is why we chose that title because it totally applies to our new role as parents raising our little wee and it is backed by some enjoyable moments we shared together as a family of two before our tv became the box that spits out episodes of The Backyardigans and Phineas and Ferb. Wait who am I kidding, Brad was watching cartoons way before Khage ever came along.

Join me on a quick walk down memory lane: When Brad and I first became friends that was one of my favorite things about him. I never knew anyone over the age of eight who could quote Disney movies so well, then Brad came along and threw me for a loop when he knew all the lines to The Jungle Book, The Lion King  and Robin Hood. Can you tell I am smiling right now?

So for the few of you that were curious about the recent change, there it is plain and simple.

Hakuna Matata.

Our family in the wilderness.

Bradley and I have such dreams of being one of those outdoorsy families. You know, the ones that are always shoving the kids into the car for another exciting nature adventure? We want our children to grow up and look back on their childhood with such fondness over the memories we shared as a family in the woods. Together setting up tents, conquering mountains, fighting over the lucky fishing pole and laughing over a campfire while mommy plays a little tune on the guitar...

Note to self: learn to play the guitar.

Note to Brad: find a lucky fishing pole.

And now I know what your thinking, How exactly are you going to trek it in the woods with a ten month old? What ever will you do? This is close to impossible.

Calm down please. We have this under control.

Brad was the first one to give this baby backpack a go. Don't let Brad fool you, you can tell you have a baby on your back... he just makes it look so easy!

We did let the poor guy out for a little time to explore and consume a few handfuls of dirt.

What a chummy boy!

 A few years ago was the first time Brad and I tackled this mountain hill. It was on Valentines Day and the weather was a bit cooler. I remember having a stick fight and climbing my first tree. It was very surreal to remember that day, the same two people but living incredibly different lives then compared to now . Our biggest concern that day was making sure Subway didn't forget to include those little mayo and mustard packets with our sandwiches and now we were consumed with such different concerns; is Khage's milk staying cold, should I reapply sunscreen on that delicate baby skin, should we take a break so he can stretch those little gammies?

We managed to get a similar picture in the same area as we did more then two years ago

One thing hasn't changed that's for sure, we still to this day have so much fun together.
To see more of our first adventure on this here mountain hill click me.

So that was the first of many family hiking trips to come. I cant wait for Khage to be old enough to beg us to take him camping in the great outdoors.

I will leave you with this following picture.

He says that's his Michael Jackson. I don't know about that nonsense, but I sure do love that man.

My mothering.

Being a mother is definitely the most incredible thing I have done. Ever. Although, I am not the mother that I wanted to be and lately I have noticed this. I find myself mothering like I never intended to. As far as I was concerned, more then nine months ago, I was going to be a perfect mother.
Khage was never going to taste a lick of sugar until he was five, by this time he was supposed to know a caboodle of baby appropriate words in sign language. He was never going to fall asleep on the bottle and those nasty little germs were never supposed to ever grace his delicate baby skin. Instead, his eyes lite up while he sampled jelly beans with us yesterday, he knows one word in sign language and never uses it, frequently he falls asleep on the bottle with milk still dribbling down his adorable chin and today I caught Baggera licking him in his mouth while he belly laughed profusely.

This is my mothering.
And it has been torturing me to know that I am doing all those things I vowed to never do the day I held him in my arms for the first time.

I am the mother who sometimes doesn't get her baby out of jammies until two o'clock in the afternoon, it can be a couple days before I realize my baby hasn't breathed in the freshest of fresh air from the outdoors, and on occasion I will find a new scratch on his body and I will scramble around trying to find the cause of it because he was never supposed to get hurt on my watch.

"I'd like to be the ideal mother, but I'm too busy raising my kids."
^{Author Unknown.}
After coming across this quote online, while I was intent on finding some comfort for my lack of perfect parenting, I realized one thing:
I need to get off my own back.
I am not perfect, I have never been and being a mother wasn't sure to help that situation because now more then ever I find myself venturing into new territory. That lady at the grocery store can glare at me all she wants while I hand my baby a produce bag to fiddle with while I squeeze various types of fruits. Our family can call me out for allowing Khage to still use a pacifier when it was never intended in the first place. And I can just suck it up and enjoy this thing called parenting and accept that its not going to get easier just yet.

Khages siblings will eventually have the upper hand because by then I will be promoted from new mommy to an experienced one. Things wont happen as they do now.
I have learned that peas are a choking hazard to a seven month old, peanut butter isnt supposed to be in his diet until he turns one, if given a pen he will figure out how to click it into writing mode and ink will end up all over his chubby legs and that smirking face, and if given the opportunity to play in my makeup box he will consume as much eyeshadow as he can before its snatched out of his sweet little hands.

This is my mothering and I am doing my best.

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.
^{Author Rajneesh}

Can you guys see me?

Between the mismatched pajamas, the creepy center part in your hair, the baby wipe being used as a chew toy & our cupboard turned into a fort... your kinda hard to miss.

The face only a mother could...

PUT UP WITH.

Khage's little lazy rump.

When we bought Khage this little walker slash ride along dinosaur we intended for him to get some walking practice. Instead he preferred to ride on it while we pulled him around like a bunch of Clydesdale's.
He would just hold on tightflash this little smirkand giggle like a goon.
Then yesterday he just decided to get off his lazy rump and put in some work. Without any persuasion by us he just started using it to walk around all geriatric style looking for his dentures.

^{I love that little diaper butt.}