Just a Little

Not much going on here in Bronco Nation. We have all had our turn of being sick. I had a head cold and sore throat then Tim, and now Brock seems to have Croup. Poor guy. This was him last night at 7. Pass out on my lap. He had never done this before, not since he was a newborn! He slept all the way until 8:30! Of course with all the coughing, he didn't exactly sleep well!

The other night we went to a Steelheads Hockey game with some friends. It was so fun! We are planning on going again. Here was a fight right at the beginning. I didn't know that in hockey the refs let them duke it out until someone hits the ice. Idaho took down the bigger Utah man. It was intense!
At the game... yup tim shaved
Oh and here are some pictures from the chocolate chip incident. What a little punk!

I Just Knew It

Have you ever woke up and just knew, today was going to be one of those days? Well, mine started at about 5:30 thanks to Brock. And 5:30 is just no way to start the day in my book. No way. I finally let him out at about 8, very tired and bleary eyed I might add, and we got breakfast. A few hours into our morning Brock is out of sight and I hear the toilet flush. Since he still needs help pulling down his pants, I knew this couldn't be good. Alas he had tried to flush his cereal, cup and all, down the john. Sigh... I had to pick the cup out by myself since Tim was gone. And toilet water is very cold. After thoroughly cleaning my hand, Brock and I had a nice little chat about what is appropriate for the toilet.

Nap time couldn't have came sooner today and I was happy. Although, Brock had other plans because during nap instead of sleeping he found a small bottle of lotion and proceeded to bath himself. Well he certainly smelled good when I went to get him, greasy hair and all. He used the WHOLE bottle and even managed to rub it all in.

By this time I was trying to fix my hair and face up a little {I had pulled most of it out at this point} so Brock and I could go to the store. As I am finishing up, I realize that it is quiet .... too quiet. I start calling Brock's name throughout the house and after hearing no answer started getting panicky. Well I made it to the kitchen and Brock had pulled a bag of chocolate chips out and was double fisting them. Chocolate smeared all over his face and hands he looks at me with a big brown toothy grin and says "Mommy!" Sigh... Pictures coming soon.

Well we some how made it home from the store in one piece and I am starting on dinner. As I am shredding chicken, I hear that notorious toilet flush. Without even washing my hands I rush to the bathroom to find that Brock has tried to flush the entire contents of the garbage can. Big SIGH. Lots of stuff to fish out of the toilet this time. Not fun. Brock was in trouble for that one.

Lets just say Tim came home just in the nick of time. I was about to the end of my rope. I mean really, how many naughty things can one little boy do in 12 hours? It is now 7 and he is getting in bed. Thank goodness, lets just hope he sleeps in tomorrow...

Christmas Catch Up

We had a great Christmas this year. It was so nice to have Tim home for a while, Brock was in heaven. This was the first actual Christmas "just us" it was nice but a little lonely too. Here is what our front room looked like shortly after Santa visited~

Brock loved his race car bed. Sweet find on Craig's List. Too bad it didn't make the transition out of the crib any easier. It's like he has discovered that he could open his door and sneak out a million times before falling asleep. Well a child lock on the door and a few nights falling asleep at the door, and he is finally doing great. He is even staying dry all night and we have ditched the pull ups! Just testing out the new bed~
Playing with a "new" {ok hand me down, but he loves it} tool set. He thinks it's Handy Manny.
Riding his "new" {ok $3 Kettler trike we found at the used store, in excellent condition} This was my most triumphant Christmas find and I wasn't even looking for one!
Trying to open a train. As soon as he saw what it was, he yelled, "Thomas! Thomas I see you! I'm coming! I'm coming!" It was funny. He was rescuing Thomas from his suffocating store packaging.
Here is my haul. Tim and I unknowingly pretty got each other the same stuff, BSU gear, board games. My mom did get me the Pioneer Woman's cook book, and trust me, you need this book in your life!
Tim's haul, BSU gear and Board games.
Brock's Haul. Spoiled little turd!
Then we headed to Burley for a few days with my parents. It was a nice and easy visit {except the night Brock escaped his pack and play about 30 times! I refuse to put kids in my bed. I'm just that way} I some how never manage to get pictures with my fam. Sorry Mom, we did have fun though.

Then we headed up to Inkom for New Years. It was both fun and....crappy. Tim got nasty food poisoning the first night we were there and was up all night puking. Trust me I could hear him across the house, he is loud! Poor guy! Last year all over again. Then Brock was waking up in the middle of the night. And 2nd to last night we were there woke up screaming bloody murder. I mean SCREAMING! yup you guessed it, Throwing up. I broke my rule and let him sleep in our bed so Isaac who was sharing a room with him could get some sleep. What a night! But, on to the good times~

We took a silly hat picture. Almost everyone was there. We missed Matt and Lucy and fam though!
Getting tired of the pictures....
Ok, I think we've had enough....
Jay Bird {the stud muffin} showing off his new BSU gear.
And then there was SNOW! I don't like the snow, so I stayed inside, but Tim and Brock had a ball pulling Claire and Dylan around. Tim is really just a big kid. He was having a great time too!

All in all we had a good time. And most importantly it was great to see our family! It is such a blessing to live close to home again! Hope you all had a great holiday too!

Merry Christmas 2009~

Since I lacked the time and motivation this year to send out a Christmas Card, I decided I could do just as well with a little blog post/ year in review. So if you really wanted a Card from us, just read along, and it will be almost as good as the real thing!

The last half of 2009 was great for us. In July Tim finished his 2 {and thus for worst} year of Medical school. We got to move back to our beloved ID and even got to spend 12 weeks in Pocatello. He is now in his 3 year where he gets to do hands on work with Drs. He just finished his internal med rotation. He had to do 30 hour call every 4th day. It was no fun for anyone, and I got used to sleeping with my little bottle of runners mace {cant be too safe}. I don't know who is happier to see the end of that rotation, me or Tim!

Brock turned 2 and is busy as ever. His favorite things are trains and cars. The train set I bought is the best money I have ever spent. Brock plays with that thing all day every day. He is also POTTY TRAINED now, and I couldn't be happier. It was a rough couple of days but he now has the hang of it and is doing fantastic. His Elmo undies are is favorite and he wants to wear them everyday. He is a busy and loving child who loves to snuggle me. I am so glad I have him in my life.

As for me... same old same old. I started a very part time job, 12 hours a week. It has been really nice to get out and make enough money to cover all our utilities. And it is nice to talk to other adults about things besides how many times Brock went potty or medicine. I have to admit, I usually don't look forward to the holiday season. It is a constant hustle and bustle, with scary roads, and people tend to go a little crazy. Sure I like buying a surprise or two for Tim, but he doesn't get that excited either. But this year is different. Brock is SO excited about Christmas. If some one stops by, he proudly shows off our poor little tree {lights are half dead}. We can't go out with out him exclaiming "It's Christmas!" He knows he has presents and he knows Santa is coming, although he'd rather he didn't. Even though he is only 2 I can tell that he can feel the special spirit that is around during this time of year. I almost feel like a kid again. Tim and I can't wait until Christmas Day, for Brock to rush out and see what Santa has left him. It really is a different feeling when you are seeing Christmas through a child's eyes!

I hope 2009 leaves you all happy and healthy! And heres to a great 2010!

With Love, The Ulrich Family.

And if any of you skipped all the rambling, here are a few photos of what we have been up to lately!

Sledding, Brock had an absolute ball.

Brock is a train fanatic. So we decided it would be fun to take him on the North Pole Express. There is a train company here called Thunder Mountain Express out of Horse Shoe Bend. We went to the North Pole where we got to meet Santa and have milk and cookies. Brock was in heaven for the whole 3 hours. Here he is showing off his ticket~
Waiting for the Train to start. And then an attempted self portrait.
This is what we got to watch on our ride. We saw a deer, bald eagle, llama, ducks, cranes and a weird duck that looked like a penguin. Not kidding.

Brock and Tim {in matching BSU hats made by yours truly} sitting a safe distance from Santa. Brock wouldn't go near him. It was a great experience and Brock LOVED it. I recommend this to anyone who lives in or near Boise, and kids 2 and under are FREE!

Thanksgiving and such

For Thanksgiving my Parents rented this fun cabin in Island Park. There was tons of snow and we had a blast. Sadly Tim couldn't make it because of school. Anyway here is what we did~

The Cabin

Brock Swimming with my dad and the girls at the Rec center there. He loves his cousins and they take such good care of him!

Going for a walk. See all that snow? And doesn't Brock look cute in 3T snowpants that are too short?

Me and Shelby at Johnny Saks Cabin and Warm Springs. This place has the hugest fish ever!

Dad and Alex at Warm Springs.

Tubing on a very flat hill next to the cabin. Dani had a blast though!

Eating dinner. Brock wouldn't sit at the kiddie table, so I got to instead.

YUMMO! I love sweet potatoes... or Yams. I guess they are different?

We had fun but missed Tim! We have had some fun with him though. Recently we went and saw some crazy, ridiculous lights around Boise. This one guy starts putting lights up after Halloween, with the help of 2 hired men. Then he pay $1500 for electricity in Dec!!!! It is pretty amazing though. Every Square inch of this guys house is covered.

Brock loved finding all the Disney characters in the lights.


And this guy, the next door neighbor gets and honorable mention for his display~
If you live in Boise you should take the time to check this out! So cool! Just don't forget your hot cocoa!

This is What we DO!

As per the request of my mom, here are some pictures of what we have been doing. It's not a lot. i can tell you that much!

Brock is at an age where he finally enjoys other movies besides cars. It has been really nice to put on something new and have him snuggle down and watch it with us!

The other day we took Brock to the Boise train dept. He loved looking at the big train engine, walking on the track and even riding up the big bell tower!




We must have tuckered him out. He passed out on the way home!

Trick or Treat

Brock had a pretty good time trick or treating. We didn't go very far as his little legs got tired. I think I was more bummed about that then anybody else. I was looking forward to a good chocolate stash. Oh well! Here are a few pictures from our night!

This is during the day. We went trick or treating at the out let mall by our house. Brock wouldn't let me put his costume on, so he wore his BSU sweat shirt and went as a super fan.

Yup, we are lame. Brock is reusing his costume from last year. It hardly fits. But, he doesn't care and neither do we. Next year he might care!
I thought he looked so cute knocking on doors. He was too shy to say trick or treat, but would say thank you as soon as the door closed while running to the next house!

Also, our good friends, the Harris family, had a super fun Halloween party. There was a pumpkin carving contest~
Brock played with his little friend Jake. They play so well together, and I love this picture.
And on a different note, Brock has decided to stop napping. At first I was completely against this. We went for about 2 weeks where I would wake him up early, then ware him out, and finally put him down where he would just play for 2 hours. Sigh. I was NOT ready to give up my 3 hours of peace. However, I think I have figured out a solution that fits us both. I decided to let Brock sleep in on day, just to see. He slept in till 10:30!! It was heaven. Then he was pretty happy all day and went right to bed at 8. About an hour and half earlier then before. SCORE!!!! I thoroughly embrace this new system. I can get so much done in the early morning while he is still sleeping. So I still have my nap time, just 2 hours in the morning and an extra hour at night.

And for those of you wondering, the potty ship tanked and burned. He knows how to go in the potty and all that, but he refuses, kicking and screaming, to wear big boy undies. SO I bought another box of diapers, and when those are done, we'll try again. Sad.