Christmas Lights

We've driven around a couple night looking at lights.  We just love it!  Might even go out again one last time Christmas night.  Nate is obssessed with Santa this year and so he is only interested in the houses that have santas as part of their decor.  And the minute we find one he's ready to find the next.  Maddie doesn't seem to care much about the lights but every now and now we'll hear a little "ooh" from the backseat. Hopefully next year we will be able to drive around a little longer.  Either Maddie gets fussy being in the car too long or Nate has to use the bathroom.  But it's fun while it lasts!

Sickness Hits the House

Nate woke up from his nap on Monday afternoon very whiny and crying.  While he his moods have gotten a lot better after waking up, there are still some days that are not so great.  Monday was one of them.  So when he woke up in this state I didn't think much of it, in fact, tried to hush him so he wouldn't wake the baby.  However, within minutes he was throwing up all over the floor.  We made it to the bathroom but most of the damage was done.  He continued to throw up the rest of the evening and had become so weak that by bedtime I decided I was going to sleep with him, scared he'd choke on his own puke. 

{Nate has never gotten the flu or stomach bug before so this is my first time dealing with this.  I feel fortunate that he is 3 years old and just getting it for the first time, but man, did it break my heart to see him like this.  He just laid on the couch all afternoon and would cry everytime he'd get sick.  It was terrible.}

By 1am, Nate and I were sharing the bucket in his room.  Yep, the bug got me too.  Not long after that Maddie woke up crying.  Nooooo! I went to check on her and sure enough, she had gotten sick in her bed and it was all over her head.  So I had to strip down her sheet and wash her in the tub.  I was feeling miserable and praying that Michael would not get it so he could take care of us the next day.  But while I was getting Maddie into new clothes he woke up, sick too.  So he spent the rest of the night with Nate and I spent the rest of the night on the floor with Maddie, all of us completely miserable. 

By morning Mads was feeling better.  Nate was no longer throwing up but was still sickly and laid around all day.  Michael and I just tried to survive, lying on the couches, sharing the bucket, feeling like dying.  It. Was. Terrible.  The longest day ever.  I'm glad the kids were not puking all day too, but it took everything in us to take care of them while feeling that bad.  I never expected the bug to hit us all at the same time and I hope it never happens again. 

First Christmas Celebration

We kicked off our first Christmas celebration at Michael's parents this past Saturday.  A couple of years ago we started spacing out holiday visits and I love it!  It makes the holidays less stressful, not having to travel everywhere in just a couple of days. 

It was fun and I enjoyed watching the kids open their presents.  Maddie still needs help but likes to see what's inside. 

Donuts with Santa

 Instead of standing in line at the mall forever, we were fortunate to be able to visit Santa at Grace Lutheran Church, where we go to MOPS.  The MOPS group organized a visit with Santa last Saturday morning.  It was wonderful and can I say again how happy we are that we are in MOPS this year!  There were tables set up to enjoy donuts and an area to decorate little wooden ornaments.  Santa was set up in a secluded area on the back stage and we had to wait a total of 5 minutes!  Nate got right on his lap (wasn't sure how this would go since this is the first time we have done this) and talked to Santa for a little bit while we snapped some pictures.  We put Maddie on his lap at the last minute and she wanted nothing to do with it and was off immediately.  I'm lucky I even got one picture!  We had a big breakfast before we went so no donuts for us (although they were screaming for me to eat them) so afterwards Nate colored some ornaments and then we left.  It was smooth, quick, and fun!

Nap Time

Nate slept during nap time yesterday. Why am I telling you this, you ask? Because, for the last week Nate has NOT slept during nap time.  And as I write this now, during nap time today, I can hear him in there playing.  So comes the time that the naps get faded out.  Enter not-so-quiet time.  Well, he actually doesn't do too bad playing in his room, just at times gets loud roaring or jumping around.  And about half way into it he always poops so I have to go in there and change him.  Not so much of a full break from kids for me anymore but at least they are still both contained for 2 hours a day. :)

Double Wellness Visit

I always appreciate when the pediatrician's office can get both kids in on the same day.  Nate was due for his 3-year check up and it was also time for Maddie's 15 month visit.  It is so nice to get them both knocked out at one time-going to the doctor is not always the funnest time.

Both kids are (surprise) big and healthy! Nate now gets an eye exam and his blood pressure checked.  He did very well sitting through the whole exam.  He was bored easily with the eye exam-he does not do well when asked repeatedly what something is and so he shut down half way through.  She seemed to think his eyes were good enough (she said it was 20/30, but now sure how she could tell).  I didn't think they did eye exams until the Kindergarten visit so I'm not concerned.  Nate is 39 lbs (93%) and 40 1/2 inches (95%).  Everything looks good except for the few skin spots (behind the knees, etc. that are constant problem areas), BUT he will need to start seeing a speech therapist.  His doctor said that she should understand 75% of his words and she understands about 25%.  At first she was going to wait until June and if I was the only one still understanding him most the time, then she was going to recommend speech therapy, but listening to him during the visit I guess she reconsidered.  It's upsetting although I know lots of kids go through speech (me being one for my "r's") but I'm glad he is going to get the help he needs to help his communication improve and be ready in time for school. 

Maddie is healthy and happy, except when she received her 4 shots.  Brutal.  She's hysterical and Nate is feigning an injury on his leg on the seat next to us so he can have a shiny band aid too. He's something else.  Maddie, of course, is also high on the charts- 26lbs 11oz (95%) and 33 1/2 inches (100%).  She will be excited tomorrow morning when Nate takes his vitamins because the doctor said she can have them too!  She always gets so upset when she can't have any. :) 

Nate is Three Years Old!

Nate had his 3rd birthday this past week.  Three years old! Time is really going by fast. Three is such a big change, no more toddler--now a preschooler, and boy, does it feel like it!  He just seems so much older this past month, with his speech, potty training, and need to do things on his own.  He is a big helper and is a little funny man.  He also likes to point out when Maddie is doing something naughty, but also shows her so much brotherly love (usually with unwanted hugs around her neck!) that it all balances out.

The birthday celebrations started on Thursday with Thanksgiving at Mamaw and Papaw's house.  We enjoyed a delicious dinner and then Nate opened his present from them. He was so excited, jumping up and down. 

On Saturday we gave him his presents from us (new train set and train table).  He loves them and it has been such a good babysitter, eh hem, gift for him, keeping him busy. :)

Saturday evening the Toppes came up with more gifts and fun!  Nate has been talking all week about Landon and Lucas and his "birthday party" and monkey cake.  Even though it wasn't a party he wouldn't have known the difference, all he needed was his Landon.  They kept busy with all the new toys, while the rest of us played the XBox Kinect.  I don't have any good pictures of our dance moves, but trust me, they were good. ;) 

Attitude & Independence

Maddie is always the star of the show, cheesing it up with everyone she sees.  She has this toothy grin that is the cutest thing ever!  As cute as she is, she is also has just as much attitude.  Well, maybe not as much, but definitely more than she ever used to have!  She now gives us the shoulder when she doesn't like something and has begun hitting when she's upset.  Ah, the wonderful stages of toddlerhood!  She is also trying to talk a lot, making sounds for most things, but "baby" and "boot" come out pretty good (she has a favorite pair of boots she loves to wear).  She is also a little bit gangsta and if you're lying on the ground don't be surprised if she comes over and stomps your face.  Good thing there's no curbs in the living room. :)

Nate is my big boy.  He is doing so well with potty training.  He is going poop in the potty and a couple of days ago we started putting pants on with the underwear and he's been doing a good job with that.  He still has some accidents but is pretty good about telling me when he has to go.  He is becoming more independent and likes to put his underwear on himself (which sometimes results in him wearing them backwards) and now likes to be alone in the bathroom when he poops.  He will call for me when he is done so I can wipe. He has to have the door shut and everything.  Privacy demands at three. 

I am chopped liver when Dad is around, not good enough to help him eat, get dressed, read books at night, the list could go on and on.  Oh well. Yeah right, I'm crying inside! Haha!

It's exciting getting ready for the Christmas season.  We put up the tree on Friday.  Well, I put it up.  The kids were so excited when I got the tree box out and brought it downstairs and after branch #2 they were done...ditched me to go play with their toys.  So I finished the tree and then we decorated on Saturday morning.  We put the ornaments up high so the bottom of the tree is empty but so far they have done a good job leaving it alone. 

Only One Stroller Walk

The weather this weekend has been absolutely beautiful!  After some quite chilly weather and knowing that a whole winter is ahead of us, we took this opportunity for some outdoor play.  This also included a little walk around the neighborhood.  I pulled both strollers out and began connecting them when Nate got behind Maddie's stroller, ready to push.  I asked him if he wanted to ride in his stroller and after a "no" from him and some consideration from me, I decided to give it a try.  So we set off, Nate pushing Maddie and me with Sammers. 

I wish I had my camera! Such a precious moment...my baby boy so big, pushing his little sister.  It was weird but nice to walk side by side down the street with him, having a conversation of sorts (mostly consisted of "look" and pointing at various objects).  Just a memory I want to hold onto, as they keep growing so fast and pretty soon there won't be any strollers on our walks.

Daddy's Home!

Michael is home! Woot! Woot! He arrived home late Wednesday night.  He did drive through some of the storms but nothing too terrible.  The kids were already in bed when he got home so they didn't see him until after work the next day.  I had a doctor's appointment and so I wasn't home when they got up from their naps.  It took a little bit for Nate to warm up to him (probably didn't help to wake up and find me gone) but once he did he was glued to Daddy's side the whole night.  It is good to have him home. 

Potty training update: It's still a work in progress. I don't know exactly how long potty training takes, but am expecting it to be awhile, especially for the #2 business.  He is doing great as long as he has just his underwear on and no pants.  So we're still restricted to underwear just at home for now.  He did have an accident last night but caught it in the middle, I think he had to go really bad, but at least finished in the potty!  Still no pooping in the potty; he holds it for when the diaper goes back on, but definitely preferring that to in the underwear.  I'm proud of him and think he's doing great!

Maddie is babbling like crazy.  She wants to talk so badly.  She is trying too!  She has gotten into this wonderful habit of screaming to get more food.  I told her the other day to say please and out came the 'p' sound!  She does it pretty consistently now, whenever she wants something I tell her to say please and she says 'p'! 

Carving Pumpkins

Last weekend we decided to carve our pumpkins.  I figured that Nate probably wouldn't want to touch the insides, but thought Maddie would care yet at this age about digging into gross stuff.  Well, neither of them wanted to get in there and help so carving pumpkins consisted of me doing it all.  They did point to where they wanted their eyes, nose, and mouth, but that's about it.  We did pick up a couple small pumpkins as well and painted them.  The kids had fun with that!

 

On Halloween we put a bowl of candy out on the porch and headed to Fall Family Fest at church.  This would have been their first year trick o' treating, but with Michael gone, I didn't want him to miss out on anything.  They're at an age that they don't know any different anyway so it's not a big deal.  Probably more disappointing for me not to dress them up. Nate did have fun seeing all the costumes as we were driving into town.  He saw a Buzz and various other characters that he thought was just the greatest to see walking down the street. 

 

We had a good time at the fest.  I wasn't sure how long we'd last but the kids did great! It was hard to keep eyes on both but Nate was glued to Anderson and they spent most of the time in the bouncy house.  I don't have any pictures, my hands were a little full, but most of them would have been a blur anyway. :) But we lasted until around 7pm and both kids ate their dinner! (this is a success if you could have seen how badly Nate wanted to play but sat and ate his hot dog and chips until they were all gone). 

Big Boy Drawers

I bought Nate some big boy underwear last week, an assortment of Disney characters such as Toy Story, Cars, Nemo, and the Incredibles.  He was very excited in the store to get them and even more excited to wear them when we got home (Oh, my goodness, how cute is he in big boy underwear?).  I told him (several times) that these are big boy underwear and you can't pee in them or they'll get wet and you have to take them off...so if you have to go peepee, tell Mommy and we'll go to the potty.  I would get okays each time but still very unsure of how this was going to play out. 

The first night was a great success!  He peed in the potty 3 times, no accidents at all.  I think he was terrified of losing his new underwear.  The next couple of days were not as smooth.  We've had a few accidents, but to be honest, I think it's mostly my fault.  They usually occur when I'm not near him, so now I'm trying to stay pretty close unless he has just used the potty.  I think he's doing great.  He doesn't like to get them wet and so has been pretty good about telling me "potty".  A couple days into it he told me potty but when I asked if he wanted to go to the bathroom he told me no.  Concerned about pee all over the carpet I told him he would have to wear a diaper then and he was okay with that.  After I put his diaper on he pooped.  So I guess he is okay with peeing in the potty, just not pooping.....until tonight!

That's right! He POOPED in the POTTY! Okay, this is big news in our house.  He kept farting and so I asked him if he needed to use the potty and he said yes.  After quite a bit of grunting and straining (which he does when he pees for some reason) the tiniest little turd popped out!  We were so excited! He was so excited he got his real close to the bowl to have a better look. Yeah, that's my kid.  Since he peed and pooped he got some candy and a new little toy.  He was very excited about that.  Thinking about it now, I should have taken a picture.  We don't want to forget this event in his life. :) 

He only wears the big boy underwear at home right now until he goes longer without accidents, so it might take some time to get this potty training thing down.  It may be a long road ahead, but at least we started the trip!

Hackman's Farm

We decided to go to Hackman's Farm after story time at the library this morning (which didn't go terribly, but still glad it was our last time).  I knew it was going to be hard to do this by myself, but Nate's obsession with pumpkins trumped my fear.  So off we went!

It actually went pretty well.  Nate was so excited to see the field of pumpkins as we pulled in, but instantly forgot about them when he saw the animals and then forgot about them when he saw the tractor.  I was happy they could actually climb on the tractors.  We avoided the corn maze, for obvious reasons, and stuck to the animals and tractors and finally the pumpkin patch.  We did make a pit stop in the barn so Nate could crawl through the straw tunnel and throw some balls around. 

They weren't as excited about picking out a pumpkin as I had thought they would be.  Maybe it was the constant tripping over the vines, but I kept encouraging Nate to find one he liked, but he just walked around pulling at the vines.  You never know what to expect.  So instead of actually picking our pumpkins we grabbed some from the pre-picked piles at the front (which actually worked better because I didn't want to carry pumpkins all the way back).  Nate picked the first pumpkin he saw, was much more interested in pushing the cart around.  Maddie could care less about picking a pumpkin but did enjoy picking out a small pumpkin and putting it in the cart.  Only one timeout and no major meltdowns, left with pumpkins the back of the car....I'd call this trip a success!

Diapers & Cookies

I was never going to push potty training with Nate. It seems to be everyone's advice and I don't want the headache of months of pushing before he's ready.  Unless it got to the point where it was like, okay if you want to go to Kindergarten, you're going to have to use the potty. :)  We have been gently nudging him, asking if he wants to use the potty (always a no).  He seems interested when he sees other boys, like Josh or Landon, using the potty, but not enough to want to do it himself.  I know for some kids, wearing pull-ups or big boy underwear is an exciting thing but Nate has never cared about what he's wearing.  Jaime will post pictures of outfits that Landon has picked out himself and he is particular about his socks.  Not Nate.  Fine with me, no struggles when it comes to getting dressed.  He is happy if he has a dragon shirt (or some equivalent of coolness) on but doesn't care if he doesn't either.  Until a couple of days ago.  I ran out of diapers.  Crap.  Not literally yet, but about to be up to our elbows in it if I don't figure something out.  In Maddie's closet I find a box of size 4 diapers that Michael's mom had bought her for when she grows into that size (she's still in 3).  Mind you that Nate is in size 6.  I figure a four is better than a three and we can't go to the store until the next day so, that's what you're wearing buddy.  The diapers were Huggies and have Mickey and Minnie Mouse on them (we buy Target brand that has little blue and green dots all over, exciting, I know).  So Nate was ecstatic to wear Mickey! Yay! Until the next day when I get his regular diapers and suddenly he DOES NOT want to wear them anymore.  So now when it comes to diaper changes, if he's thinking about it, he has to wear the ones with Mickey.  Luckily, he doesn't usually think about it unless he has recently seen them (I need to do a better job hiding them).  Soooo, looping back to the potty training thing, I think that I might buy him some big boy underwear, just to see how it goes.  He might really like wearing them and might really might NOT like wearing them when they're wet.  We shall see.

Now that I'm looking back, this seems like a long, drawn out post just to say I'm getting him underwear. That's what happens when your husband is away. :)

My little Maddie.  She is shaking her head no now.  Hilarious.  It kinda is, sometimes. Okay, a lot of the times.  She's just too stinkin' cute. She knows where her teeth are and she can "wash" her hair.  She is working on the pig sound but she doesn't use her nose to snort, she kinda does this throaty grunt.  It's weird but cute.  And the last couple of days she does not want to be fed. It's okay for me to put the food on the fork but I have to hand the fork off to her so she can feed herself.  I should have known chili mac for dinner was a bad idea.  It wouldn't stay on the spoon when she tried to feed herself and she wouldn't let me feed her so it ended up a finger food.  Messy! 

 I found a cute idea on pinterest to make skeleton cut out cookies using the gingerbread man and icing for the bones.  The original recipe called for chocolate sugar cookies but since Nate can't have chocolate we made gingerbread cookies.  Kind of weird since it's not Christmas time, but eh, a cookie's a cookie.  I've never made gingerbread cookies before.  The kids seem to like them but I'm not a big fan.  We tried icing the cookies and of course look nothing like the wonderful pinterest picture, but Nate had fun squeezing the bag to decorate his cookie. 

Ladybug Cake #2

One of Michael's coworkers daughter turned one today.  His wife had seen the cake for Maddie for her birthday on facebook and wanted the same one so I agreed to make it.  Changed it slightly, but mostly the same. Changed the smash cake completely-was not happy with the one I did for Maddie; just threw it together at the last minute because I had so much else going on. I enjoyed doing another cake and a reason to practice it some more. 

Soup, Stew, Chili, & Brew

This is an annual event held in downtown Madison. This was our first time going to it.  Jeremy and Lucas were camping so it was just Jaime, Landon, me & the kids.  The city closes down a couple blocks and local businesses and groups set up tents in the street.  They have soup, stew, or chili, or a combination of these dishes.  You purchase tickets to either sample the chili or get a bigger bowl.  I guess the one with the most tickets wins, but I don't really know how it works.  This is how it worked for us.  Samples at different tents, Maddie eating most of my samples each time (of course) and the boys devouring the chicken noodle soup at one of the booths.  We really should have just gotten a bowl instead of all the samples! So we walked through the street, sampling the food, and at the end of the way there was a large inflatable slide, so the boys went down that a few times.  Afterwards, we stopped at a little ice cream shop.  We probably should have just kept walking, but who turns down ice cream!?! We got the boys blue ice cream.  That's really where the mistake was.  It got everywhere!  We were taking our ice cream to go (the good part-we were outside) so we could walk down by the river.  It was all over the boys and they were leaving a blue splattered trail along the sidewalk.  Everyone that saw them laughed and commented.  Luckily there was a bathroom down there so we could wash them up.  They loved it and I will always love the memory. :)  After a quick play at the park we walked along the river, stopping to watch the boats and find ducks.  No ducks and only a few boats, but we had such a good time. I think we all agree that we love the little charming city of Madison. 

Story Time at the Library

The one's and two's story time at the library falls on Wednesdays and Thursdays.  Since we have MOPS and Bible Study on those days I have yet been able to take Maddie to the library.  With a short period of time to take both of them before Nate turns 3, I found my chance this week due to Fall Break.  Yay!

We haven't been to story time at the library since Nate was one.  It was always an "adventure" with Nate being the only child that wouldn't sit on the mat or my lap and would run around and tear things off the felt board.  I felt like I was corralling him the whole time. 

This time is going to be different.  Nate is older and willing to sit for songs and stories now.  Maddie the same age as Nate was, but is a different child.  If she could she would probably sit in my lap all day long reading stories and playing with toys.  Sitting in mine or Daddy's lap is her favorite place to be and reading is one of her favorite things to do.  This will be perfect!

Ha! (I should know better, right?) Well, I can say that Nate did sit on his mat and listen to the stories and sing the songs (loves itsy bitsy spider right now for some reason).  Maddie, on the other hand, did not.  Where was my good little girl? She did not want to sit in my lap.  At all.  Although while she was the only child running around while all the other well behaved children sat there like good little children, she wasn't being completely naughty.  She was just having a good time looking at all the new stuff!  She'd walk around and then fall down and laugh and then just lay there looking at everyone.  I kept trying to get her to sit by me but that caused some good ol' screaming and thought it was better to just let her run.  I'm sure the parents thought I should get some control over my child, but eh, she's one.  Nate tried to help a few times, running to her, tackling her to the ground, yelling "baby, sit!". They was awesome.


So all in all, a typical day out with the kids.  Will we go next week?  Probably.  As much as I sweat the whole time and it's more work than play, for the kids, it's so completely worth it.  They love it. And it'd be the last week. :)

One Week In, Too Many To Go

Okay, really there's only 3 1/2 more weeks until Michael comes home from SLC (Senior Leader Course) in Ft. Lee, VA.  He left a week ago today, and to be honest, it feels longer.  Maybe it's the rainy and cold weather, keeping us inside more than we would like.  But I think the biggest reason that it has been more difficult is that Nate has been terribly difficult; just plain ol' naughty.  And not the 2 year old kind of naughty we're used to dealing with on a regular basis.  I think this is God's way of helping me.  Now when we go back to "normal" maybe I won't think it's so bad. 

I know that it's difficult for him.  He was asking about Daddy but now just says "Dada, work.", knowing what the answer will be.  I think he's just craving some attention that he's used to getting.  It's hard for me to juggle both of the kids when they both crave one on one time and can't get it.  Nate really likes to cuddle and sit on my lap after bathtime but it's next to impossible without Maddie climbing up and wanting attention too. 

With Fall break the next two weeks, or schedules will be different, but hopefully I have enough planned with playdates and activities that they will still have plenty to do to keep busy.  Needless to say, I'm exhausted by the time they go to bed and find myself crawling in bed shorty after I put them down. Following some great advice, I'm going to find something sweet in the kitchen and then curl up on the couch during the rest of naptime. Don't judge me. :)

Shrieks and Why

Shrieks are not just for Halloween in this house. Maddie, in the last couple of weeks, has started screaming this high pitch, ear piercing scream (literally feels like my ears are going to bleed).  It is terrible.  She thinks it is funny.  Even Nate is complaining that his ears hurt.  Taking suggestions on how to handle this lovely problem.

She loves reading and her favorite book is a baby colors book.  We read it several times every single day.  She definitely has a love for books, enjoying other books and actually sitting through some of the bigger kid books.  She loves to point at the pictures and I have to say what each one is (I know, Grandma, ending with a preposition!). 

What I hear from Nate all day is 'Mama', 'look', and 'why'.  All day.  And his latest thing is thinking that everything on the ground is poop.  "Mama, look, poop, yucky!"  Whether it's a leaf or rock or shoe, doesn't matter, it's poop. Everything is poop.  Baby pooped. Sammy pooped. Mommy pooped. You would think with that kind of fascination with poop he'd want to do it on the potty. Ha, yeah right!

He's also been lining EVERYTHING up to make it a train (choo choo).  His cars, books, blocks, fruit snacks, anything lined up is now a choo choo.  Loves the things. He has also become a big fan of pants with pockets.  If his pants have pockets, something is going in them.  I have found crayons, rocks, fruit snacks, and a penny so far.  It's always fun to do laundry! :)

Landon's 3rd Birthday Party

Saturday afternoon we headed down to Landon's birthday party.  The kids had so much fun (of course!).  Nate is at the age where he can run and play with everyone, so he loves all the "new" toys to play with and running around outside.  Landon and Nate are finally playing together (awesome!) and not beating each other up, or should I say Landon beating up Nate, so they have a great time.  Maddie loves all the different toys to play with and exploring the environment, still unaware that she's not running with the big kids, and so still having fun.

The party was great. Jeremy cooked hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill and Jaime made this delicious apple dip-yummy!  The cake was a hit, I'm so glad he liked it.  He liked it so much he stuck his face in it! I figured he might do something like that so I made the hill/tunnel just for him!  He's such a character.  He got so many new puzzles.  I really think he's a puzzle prodigy-is that such a thing?  The kid is amazing!  I've never seen someone so young tackle these big kid puzzles before.  And I love doing them with him-we are bonding now through puzzles! :)

Who Took the Cookie From the Cookie Jar?

Or should I ask, who took a bite out of each cookie in the cookie jar?  This is what I saw when I went to have a little snack.  I laughed, thinking that Michael, in an attempt to keep those cookies for himself, took a bit out of each one. 

I had to laugh harder when he came home from work and told me that he did not do that and we realized it was Nate! Of course, my first thought went to his allergy and skin, but so far no break outs.  Poor kid, just wanted a taste of chocolate. I don't think any of us can blame him. :)

Mommy is Yucky

I don't know where Nate picked it up (and he had to have picked up somewhere because of course this is something that must be learned, otherwise boys love their mamas always and forever), but everytime I give him a kiss he says "yuck" and wipes it off! I'm not really offended, it's really quite cute and funny, but still!  At 2 1/2 he already yucks my kisses!

Not feeling extremely loved, I turn to Maddie, who still has yet to say my name.  Say mama, come on, say mama. What do I get? Raspberries blown at me.  I tell ya, no love! :) 

Maddie has always been a percher.  She likes to sit on whatever she can that's not the floor.  She loves her little chair and I find her sitting on random toys.  Lately she has been all about sitting in things.  She loves to sit in this toy bucket.  Cracks me up everytime!

Aquarium & Museum

We have spent the last couple of weekends doing "stuff".  The Saturday before last we went back to the Newport Aquarium.  Last year we had purchased a membership, figuring if we go just one more time  it would pay for itself.  And we have gone a few times this year.  It has been nice when we're looking for something to do we can pick that as an option.  However, Newport is a good little drive and when we compare the amount of time we spend there versus how long it takes us, it's something that we just won't be renewing for next year.  Good while it lasted and I absolutely love seeing the difference in the kids each time we go.  I always say it's amazing what a difference a few month will make.  Nate thoroughly enjoyed himself this trip.  He loves fishes  and sharks now and so had a good time looking in all the tanks.  Someone was also nice enough to give him some extra nectar in the aviary and so he was able to feed a parrot.  That made his day! Maddie, well she like running around and looking. I think going through the tunnels fascinated her. 

                                                 

 

And then this past Saturday we went up the Children's Museum.  I'd like to take this moment to say how happy I am that we live so close to such wonderful things.  We can take the kids places and it does not mean packing up for a big vacation, just a morning out.  I love the museum.  The kids have so much fun and Maddie is getting to the age where she really likes exploring.  I don't know why we've never been up to the carousel room before (maybe because I thought that's all that was in there) but there's playhouses and mirror rooms and tons of fun things to see and do and so that was exciting seeing something new.  The carousel was closed for maintenance, a little bit of a bummer, but now that we know what's there, we'll definitely be back in that room next time we go. We usually just hit a few rooms each time we go, and so this time we hit playscape, the Matchbox exhibit, and then the carousel room.  Nate loves playing with all the Matchbox cars and I know I like playing with them too!  I think Maddie's favorite this time was the little ice cream shop.  I didn't get any pictures but that's what happens when you're too busy playing and forget about it!

Remembering These Moments

Remembering...

Nate still loves Curious George, but has a couple new favorite shows-Word World and Word Girl.  Both PBS and so of course educational without him realizing it. Love it! He still loves playing with his trains but isn't as into watching Thomas as he used to be. 

When he sees a shark (puzzle, book, etc.) he says shark and then sings the Nemo song (ah ooh wah e ah o-o). Cracks me up. 

He will continue to say thank you until someone else says thank you or you're welcome. 

He is getting much more helpful all the time, but this does mean he's becoming a bit bossy as he likes to "help" me parent.  He will tell Maddie when she can't do things. 

The paci is a problem. He just loves it.  I don't blame him and understand that he wasn't ready to give it up when he did.  He's a very oral person (still sticks toys in his mouth) so it is a hard habit to kick.  So that's been a little bit of a struggle.

He's talking so much more.  It's still single words and really hasn't stung them together to form sentences (except for a few key phrases ie. I don't want to).  But the communication has really helped to understand what he wants and lessened quite a few meltdowns I think.

A few nights ago when I put him to bed I set up his stuffed animals with toys for them to play with (he rarely goes to sleep right away and plays for a bit before climbing into bed).  We talked about sharing his toys with his friends.  It seemed like it worked well and thought it was a great way for him to practice sharing.  But when I looked back in his room as I was closing the door I saw him punching his animals and taking back the toys. I had to laugh it was so funny. Oh well, sharing is one we'll be working on for awhile.

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Maddie has finally popped those first molars on the bottom so that has given her a bit of relief for awhile.  She was working on those bad boys forever.

She developed a rash Friday night that bothered her so badly it kept her (and me) up almost the entire night.  However, by morning she was fine (no fever ever developed).  Over the weekend and into the beginning of the week the rash got worse, spreading from her torso to her entire body.  I took her into the doctor and still not knowing the cause, it is some type of contact dermatitis. The doctor said it looked like she got into some poison ivy or something, but she has not been anywhere that she could have gotten it.  She said that a lot of times the parents never know what caused it. So she's on some steroid cream for the next week.

She's still so happy.  Everywhere she goes she lights up the room.  Don't get me wrong, she definitely has her moments, especially when she's not getting her way.  Example: Last night I got out the box of nilla wafers.  She got so mad at me because I would not give her more than one at a time.  She wanted to put one in her mouth and then one in each hand.  If I haven't mentioned that the kids likes to eat, now would be a good time. :)

She likes to learn about things.  She points at things and wants us to tell her what it is.  We will sit and look at/talk about puzzles, books, etc.

She is still sleeping fine at night but has always woken up at least once, crying out for a couple seconds.  I think she loses her paci and then has to find it.  Still waiting until the time when I don't hear from at all through the night.  I will probably wake up panicked. 

New Hobby: Cake Decorating

I started thinking about Maddie's birthday months before she turned one.  Either because my little baby girl was turning one and it's a big deal OR this modern marvel known as Pinterest.  I began browsing for ideas and came up with pink ladybugs and then started looking at cakes.  I never want to pay what the bakery charges for a cake but I wanted her to have a cute cake.  So why don't I just do it?  And that's how the idea for cake decorating as a new hobby began. 

For Mother's Day Michael bought be a starter case of tips and some other decorating supplies.  My friend Sara has always wanted to get into cake decorating so we thought it would be fun to take a class at Hobby Lobby.  So every Tuesday evening in August we had a class.  It was fun to get away and do something "adult" and learn the proper decorating techniques.  Although I'll probably just be doing this for birthdays for family, I am really having fun with it!  It is a good creative outlet for me and I am excited to be dabbing my hands in something new. 

This is my cake from our last class. :)

MOPS

We are officially part of MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers-although it's for mothers of any under school age kid). For more info on it click on this link: MOPS I feel very fortunate to be a part of this group.  There is a waiting list and I didn't think we'd even be able to get in.  This year there are a lot of babies and the nursery was full, but since Maddie can walk so well we were able to move her up to the next room (18-24 mo.)!

I decided I wanted to get the kids involved in something that will allow them time to interact with other kiddos, especially since we aren't doing CMO this year. The bonus is that it is Christian based! Our MOPS is especially nice because we have the MOPPETS program which has people caring for our children while we have the meetings.  Not all MOPS have this so we are very blessed! And the way it works is we will have meetings every other Wednesday but the kids still go every week.  So the weeks we don't have meetings will be FREE TIME! Which for me will mean grocery shopping without kids! Yahoo!

Our first day was this week.  It was a lot of introductory stuff and paperwork, but I can tell it's going to be a wonderful experience for us.  The group of ladies will be a good source of support and fellowship.  When I picked up the kids from their rooms Nate was playing with play-doh and there were bubbles being blown in Maddie's room.  Both of them did very well with me leaving them in a new place so that was a little extra bonus that I didn't have to deal with a crying kid at drop off. 

We are very excited about this new adventure and look forward to the experiences MOPS will bring us this year!

Laundry Room

I found this idea on Pinterest and just had to do it! I thought it would be perfect for a laundry room. Not that I have one now, but maybe I'll hang it up in the laundry closet-it will make doing laundry a little sweeter.

Maddie at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months

Now, my laundry "closet" would not be complete without my other baby! So Nate and I had a little photo session as well. Since he's older he got to have a little fun. ;)



Big Helper & 1st Time Out

I always say 'I need to blog that!' whenever the kids do or say something I want to remember, the problem is that I can never remember when it comes time to blog. I think I need to write them down right away or there's no chance of it getting on here. So, just a couple things to mention this week.

Nate: He is becoming such a big boy! He helps out a lot more-example, today when I was changing Maddie's diaper and didn't realize she pooped and was not set up at all for a poopy diaper, I asked Nate to get me the wipes and he ran over and got them.  He also loves to help unload the grocery cart onto the counter at the store. He's talking a lot more too.  You probably have to be around him as much as I am to understand most of it, but he's really trying to communicate a lot more.  I love whenever he sees a shark in a puzzle or book, he says 'shark' and then 'ah ooh wah eh ah o o' (like in Finding Nemo. Cracks me up. I thought for sure when asked what sound a shark makes he would respond with this chant, but the other day when I asked he just bared his teeth. I guess he knows sharks don't really make sounds!

Maddie is doing great, of course!  She loves to eat and is still generally a happy kid.  Although the second she turned one we noticed her attitude changing.  She now gets pretty upset if she doesn't get her way.  She is starting to throw these little fits, kinda funny.  She is still pretty easy to manage though because she is easily redirected. She understands so much! I don't know if I just didn't give Nate enough credit at this age, thinking there's no way he understands what I'm saying, or if he was just more stubborn and didn't want to comply.  At the end of the night I tell Maddie to grab her blanket and her Cat in the Hat (or now it's her new stuffed dog, Violet) and she will go over and grab them and go to the stairs.  The other day I smelled poop.  I asked them both who pooped because someone stinks!  Maddie went over to the diaper bin and pulled out a diaper and gave it to me.  I checked, and sure enough, she was the guilty party! I couldn't believe she knew exactly what I was saying! So now that I know she's understanding us, there is also the downside of it as well, at least for her.  She was hitting Nate on the head a few days ago.  I told her to stop.  She looked at me and then started hitting him again as a smile spread across her face.  So she got her first time out.  She was not happy about it for about 3 seconds and then thought it was fun and stood behind the gate laughing.  Great. Not the response I usually look for when I'm discipling but it was pretty funny.

Trip to St. Louis

Everyone taking their summer vacations did not help with our desire to take a trip of our own.  Michael has been wanting to go on vacation for awhile now, but I said there is no way I am going anywhere with a baby that is not sleeping through the night.  Well, now that miss Maddie is sleeping at night, we decided to give this vacation thing a try.  We have taken a couple of road trips up to Wisconsin with Nate, but we have always left at night.  This being our first trip with the both of them, on the road and in a hotel room, we decided to go somewhere moderately close to home so that if disaster strikes, we can get home within a few hours.  What better place than St. Louis? It's a five hour drive and has a ton of activities for kids.  Perfect.

So we set out last Wednesday on our first family vacation (first with Mads).  The drive there went really well.  I loaded the car with toys and books.  Jaime lent us the boys' computers.  We had the DVD player (which I thought would be on the whole time and didn't end up using until close to the end of the drive).  We were set.  I also wrapped up some cheap toys I had gotten so every now and then I could pull out a gift for Nate to open up.  He enjoyed that, although once he realized there were gifts in the car he wanted to open them all at once.

The first day was designated just for travel.  No other plans or schedules so we could take our time.  Not knowing how the car ride was going to go or how many stops we were going to have to make, this flexibility was essential.  Although we only ended up making one stop for lunch and then went to the Walmart there so the kids could run around the toy section and play and stretch their legs. We got into St. Louis (we actually stayed on the IL side) that afternoon, checked into the hotel, got a pizza, and chilled the rest of the night.

For our first day we went to the St. Louis Zoo.  Awesome place and it's free!  We had taken the kids to the zoo last fall and what a difference 9 months can make.  Nate was much more interested in the animals this time.  He really enjoyed himself.  I don't know that he really liked one animal more than another, but didn't want to get too close to them, even if they were on the other side of the glass. Maddie didn't care where we were, just enjoyed running in the opposite direction of where we were going.  She thought that was hilarious.  Us, not so much.  It was really hot and the kids were tuckered out by lunch time so we headed out without seeing the whole zoo.  Of course they both instantly pass out the minute we get in the car (this is how naps happen during the trip) so we just grab some lunch and head back to the room.  After lunch and since the naps were done, we had some time to kill.  We decided to take them to the park.  We went to Tilles Park in one of the suburbs that was really neat.  The playground equipment was awesome and there was a fountain/sprinkler system to play in.  Nate really enjoyed running through that.  One of the fountains caught Maddie by surprise.  She did not like that at all!

Day two started out at Grant's Farm (free-only had to pay for parking!).  It's a really neat place.  We got a trolley ride through the whole park to see all the animals and then they dropped us off at the zoo area to view the animals.  Nate enjoyed feeding the geese but the highlight was feeding a goat a baby bottle of milk! He thought it was just the best thing ever! We tried to feed the llamas but they wouldn't leave the shade to get their treats. We finished the day at the St. Louis Science Center (again, free!).  This place is awesome!  There were so many stations and exhibits and everything was made in such a fun and engaging way, it didn't feel like learning at all!  Nate had fun exploring and liked all the hands-on activities.  His favorite was the dinosaur room-he kept roaring at the big dinosaur while digging for his fossils.  He also liked the bird room, probably because of all the magnifying glasses. 

The drive home was just as smooth.  The kids, so wore out, slept almost the entire first half of the drive; Maddie was out almost as soon as the trip started and was out until almost lunch time.  So we only stopped for lunch and then headed straight home.  I think the trip was a success! I don't think they would have lasted much longer than just a couple of days though and so it was probably timed out right.  It's good to know the option is there to get away for a couple of days and that they can handle the car ride and hotel room just fine.