Playing Mommy

My brother Brian and his wife Kelli went to St. George and Vegas for 5 days and 4 nights. Well, there wasn't anyone to watch Brycen or the dog. So when Kelli called me to see if I could watch Brycen while they were gone, I thought for a second, but decided to accept. It's good practice... but mostly Brycen is a VERY happy child, so i figured it wouldn't be too bad. The other reason I decided to watch him was because i was on my "mandatory 5 day furlough" that the University required during spring break week. I didn't have any plans anyway so it was something to fill up my week!

This is my ADORABLE NEPHEW!


Brycen is definitely a binkie boy. Can you tell? When he did that I thought it was so cute so I had to take a picture. (little does he know that mom and dad are slowly weening him off of the binky. so sad...)


Brycen decided that because he found my Skip-Bo cards he would play 1000 card pick up! (Have you ever seen the size of those skip-bo decks? THEY'RE HUGE!) But in the end he didn't pick up a single one. Hmmm... that didn't work out the way I thought it would.


Jeneil and her girls, Taylor and Makenna came over on Thursday to play. And then friday we got together with Kelsey and her niece Brynly and Brittany and her little boy Jacob. Play dates are very fun! Saturday Brycen had his first experience getting in the hot tub with me, my friend Becky and her two kids, Owen (who is 4 days younger than brycen) and Kya. Brycen loved it. He just chilled on my lap and enjoyed the warm water. (Just an FYI- it wasn't turned up all the way so it wasn't too hot for the kids).

Brycen is definitely a night owl. This is the last night that I had him, right after he fell asleep at MIDNIGHT! My sister in law is very lucky and is able to stay home with him, so going to bed late isnt an issue. I'm usually in bed by 9 so this kid really wore me out!


As I mentioned before I had one extra dog. Well, I didn't mention that Kelli's parents went on this trip too. They also have a dog. So I became a mom and a kennel club all in one day! Tuffy (brian and kelli's dog) is the dark one, the one in the middle is Bandit (LuAnn and Sheridans dog) and the farthest one is Tommy (my baby). As you can see they were VERY tuckered out after wrestling and playing for hours on end.


I thought these sleeping pictures of the pups were cute. I was tripping over them every moment of every day.. but brycen had a blast with them and they really enjoyed each others company.
Tuffy

Tommy

Bandit (he sleeps and sits with his legs out funny. it's cute)

Well... you can't imagine having 3 dogs in the house and no battle scars on the child. On Sunday, the very last day I had brycen he bent down to pick up his binky cause the dogs were rolling all over it when they were wrestling and he got a FOOT in the EYE! You can see his battle wound right in the corner of his eye. He cried for a second and then got over it. He did say "NO" to the dogs. But he very quickly forgave them. And you can see the smile on his face behind the bink.


I learned a lot playing mom for a few days. Going from no child to a 19 month old was a definite experience in itself. He is a really good kid and he was so much fun. I haven't laughed and giggled so hard in my life. I have seen a lifetime worth of Handy Manny (but I must say is MUCH better than baby einsteins). I think brycen was very good preparation for parenthood. When I do have a child... I'll let you know the comparison. LOVE YOU BRYCEN!