A lot

Brady with his cousin Lauren
Brady has now shame about driving the mini

Brady being a bully

Who's a bully?

Much has been going on lately! MUCH! Hince the reason I haven't blogged for a weekish. These days a family nap has been more desirable than hitting the keyboard.

If you are short on time here is the summary- We have been to see Claire, drove 480 miles in our new mini van (yes mini van), locked the kids in said mini van, Brady has taken 8 steps.. a lot, got a black eye (Brady), gained 2lbs (Mallory), lost 2lbs (me), and lived to blog the tale.

The extended version for people who are bored at work:

Last week we went to see Claire. It turns out these two are turning up the heat. Our little darling snuck a kiss on the lips. Brady didn't mind and actually went back for more. I'm thinking we may need to move up the wedding before these two get real carried away.

On Thursday we bought a new mini van. Yes, it's true... I now find myself cozied behind the wheel of a new Honda Odessey. UGH! I never thought the day would come, but it slammed it's way into our garage like the big fat mom-mobile it is! Actually, it's a little peace of heaven, but I wear a wide brimmed hat and large shades when I'm behind the wheel. It's a stylish silver and it will NEVER have the little sticker cartoon people of my family in the back window, or a Husker sitcker OR a "I'm the proud parent of an honor roll student." That is where I draw the line people! It has enough cup holders to host a kegger and automatic doors that allow me to hold two kids a diaper bag, groceries and a latte all at the sametime.

So what else do you do with a family-mobile??? You pack that baby up and head to Bettendorf, IA to see Grandpa D! We headed east to visit the old man and attend a lovely 40th birthday party. Amazingly both littles were champions of the road courtious of the DVD system and 40 movies. We had a regular Shannon film festival minus all the edgy plot lines, nudity and subtitles...Brady hates subtitles. The long weekend went off without a hitch...until we hit West Des Moines IA for a quick refill of the 80 galloon chug a lug gas tank. Mallory was screaming her head off and desperate for a snack and Brady was enjoying himself as always.... until Jeff and I both jump out of the van, closed the doors and somehow mysteriously hit the LOCK button. Slam, slam....oh POOP! There we are standing like a couple of idiots desperately checking all the doors only to confirm that we did indeed lock our 5 week old baby and toddler INSIDE THE FREAK'N van. We quickly flagged down a stranger to use their cell phone (ours were both locked inside the van) to call 911. The police showed up with a smirk on their face, confirming that YES we may seem like reasonable, responsible parents, but indeed did lock their offsprings in the van. Turns out he couldn't pop the lock so we had to call a locksmith. This process was taking an ETERNITY in my mind, which equals 20 minutes in a calm, non-hormonal mother's mind. All was good and we got back on the road and returned to our regularly scheduled film festival!

Brady has been doing GREAT in the walking category. He can now take 6-8 steps with control and ease. He just has to decided that this is a better mode of transportation. We are waiting little man, we are waiting....

Mallory is doing fantastic as long as you don't see her from 8pm-10pm. This girl can crank it up. We are used to the mild manner of Mr. B. We now refer to her as the teradactyl or Benjamin Button. She is either shreaking like a dying animal or growning like an 80 year old man. Fortunately, she is absolutely darling and plumping up like a ripe tomato.

We have offically settled into being a family of 4. There is nothing better than holding a little Shannon in both of my arms.