Memorial Day Fun

For Memorial Day, we went up to woodstock to visit Norm, Karen and baby Charlie.  We spent some time at their great neighborhood pool, which the boys loved and then we grilled out at their house.  In addition to the giant deep pool, there is a kid pool with spraying water and a huge water slide.  Everyone was anxious to get on the slide, except Aiden of course.  They had very strict rules about the slide- no pregnant women, and only one person at a time (regardless of age).  Ty wanted to try it, but they wouldn't let Jeff go with him.  Jeff put him at the top of the slide and he screamed the whole way down.  I think he was flipping and spinning because he came down face first on his belly where Jason caught him.  I was disappointed that I didn't get to slide, but the big boys had fun going down a few times.  Charlie is such a water baby- perfectly content floating around.  Back at the house, the boys loved playing with Charlie's baby toys.  We enjoyed a yummy lunch and the men played cornhole.  It was a great day to spend with great friends!

First Swim Day

Our neighborhood pool opened today, and we got to enjoy it as a family all to ourselves!  I love that God gives us seasons, so we have things to look forward to in each one, like swimming in the summer!  The boys loved having Dadda swim and splash with them in the pool!

Aiden got off the steps and started kicking in the water right away.  He was all over the pool pointing out the different depths, reading the numbers on the pool wall.  He was hesitant to jump in on his own.  Maybe we'll loose those floaties and be swimming on his own by the end of summer!

Ty loved jumping in!  Of course Dadda was there to catch him every time, but he wanted to do it over and over again.

Ty doesn't quite have his balance in the pool on his own.  He'll let his feet float up to the top and be floating on his back if Jeff wasn't holding him- which freaked him out.  He "swam" around the whole pool with Dadda's help, and loved going to the ladder to get out and jump back in again.

I see us spending a lot of time at the pool this summer!  Lots of fun for little boys!

"Nee"

Toddlers, especially when first learning to talk, will make up their own sounds/noises for people or items that make perfect sense in their little minds.  I remember Aiden did this and a few words took sometime to determine exactly what he meant.  Ty has really been talking a lot lately and for some reason, he refers to Aiden as "Nee".  This little nickname has really stuck because Aiden now responds to it and I have even caught myself using it.  Recently I said to Ty, "This is Ty's cup and this one is Nee's".  Obviously it is easier for Ty to say, but when we break down his name into syllables, he can say it just fine.  I'll say, "Ty, say A" and he'll respond "A", say "din" and he'll say "din".  Then, I'll tell him, "Say Aiden", and he responds "Nee".  I'm sure it won't last forever, and it's actually kinda cute!

Back one more time . . . with Dadda

We figured we would go pick strawberries one more time and this time we took Dadda with us.  We just love their strawberries and teaching the boys where food actually comes from.  Jeff picked most of the berries while the boys and I taste tested them! :-)

Potty Training- Round 2

Ty is wearing big boy undies and not just over his diaper!!! His potty training story is very similar to Aiden's. I'm not sure if the boys will think I'm weird for documenting it; I'm hoping they will think its funny. It is just part of a 2 year olds life and a big milestone in my opinion. So here goes:

I tried training Ty a few weeks ago; took his diaper off in the morning and let him be bare all day.  I showed him the bag of M-n-M's and gave Aiden some candy when he used the potty to show Ty what to do.  This made Ty very upset.  He really wanted some candy, but didn't want to use the potty.  I continued to explain what he needed to do to get m-n-m's.  After throwing an all out tantrum, he dried his face and went back to playing.  We took the potty in each room as he played and outside when he played there, but I constantly encouraged him to sit on it and use it when he needed to go.  He first peed outside; I caught him and scooped him up and sat him on the potty and he sat there and looked at me and . . . nothing.  He even ate lunch while sitting on the potty and never went.  We had a few accidents around the house, and while he didn't mind sitting on the potty, he never wanted to use it.  So I told myself that he wasn't quite ready and we should wait a little bit.

About a week later he came to me and wanted to sit on the potty, and sure enough for the first time he went in the potty!  So I put some underwear on him and gave him M-n-M's!  He was very excited!  From then on, he has been using the potty and has even gone at Papa's house the other day!  We had a few accidents- a couple messy ones.  He has no problem going pee in the potty, but sometimes has an accident with pooping.  I changed the reward to 2 m-n-m's for pee and 4 for poop.  He loves to count them and is now pooping on the potty too.  I think he was embarrassed to do it in front of me, so now when I know he needs to go, I will leave the room and then he'll tell me after he goes.  He is wearing undies at nap time and even at night.  After waking up in a dry diaper and rewarding him for that, I put underwear on him and he's holding it all night!  He has had a lot more accidents than Aiden (he only had 2), but he's doing great and I knew it couldn't be that easy twice.  I am just excited to be done with diapers . . .  for a little while anyway (until October).

Mother's Day

I knew Jeff had something planned for me for mother's day, but I didn't know what it was.  I knew it was being delivered while I was at work last night.  I came home (past midnight) and looked around the house for some piece of furniture or something large and I couldn't find anything.  Jeff told me to look out the window of our bedroom and I saw my garden!  He put it together, filled it with soil, and transfered my 2 tomato plants into it.  The boys made me a Happy Mother's Day sign and posted it in the garden, but unfortunately it was illegible because of the rain.  Today we went and bought some more plants to fill the garden (2 romaine, squash, cucumber, cherry tomato, bell peper, and some herbs).  The boys are very eager to help me care for it and I am excited to have some yummy produce to enjoy!

At the Ballgame

We made the trip out to Athens to watch Payton play baseball!  The 9 of us (my brother's family and our's) went to Chicken Express and ate dinner beforehand and then headed to the ball field.  The team they were up against was big and played very well, but Payton's team put up a good fight, but in the end fell short (14-19)  Payton played extremely well with at least 3 points for his team.  Coach Marcus did a great job encouraging his players.  The kids watched and ate their snacks, but also got to play in the grassy area behind us.  Kylie was teaching them how to roll down the hill, but Aiden tried rolling up the hill!  It was an exciting game and fun to watch.   I am really looking forward to watching our boys play sports soon!

Playdate with Nichols' boys

Two pregnant mommies decided to take the kids into an air conditioned place to burn some energy!  We met the Nichols boys at the jumpy house today for a play date.

The big slide was the hit as usual.  Aiden actually rolled down it one time doing a somersault.

Kollin was so sweet to go down with Ty, since he doesn't like going down by himself.

Kruz, the baby (for now) love his buddy Ty.  When he sees me he says "where Ty?" 

Sweet Kolt smiling for a pic after going down the slide.

Always a good time when we get together with the Nichols' boys.  Our kids are good friends- I am so thankful to have their family in our lives.  We will soon have 7 boys between the 2 of us!  wow!

Boys new room

The boys, or I guess I should say the "big boys" got a new room and it is finally done.  The bed has been a headache to say the least (repainted, wrong size and rebuilt), but it's custom and looks great!  Their room is "sports/all star" theme!

a few pictures to fill yet . . .

They love their new beds.  Ty made the transition from the crib very easily, and Aiden loves sleeping up top!  We had a few nights where the boys wanted to talk or we had one crying, which led to the other getting upset, but overall they are getting used to it and I think they like being together. 

The baby's room is done as well.  It was very easy, as we used everything from Aiden's old nursery.  We are very excited to meet our new little man!

Tuesday's with Papa

Each Tuesday, I take Aiden to Papa Leon's house for some one-on-one grandfather/grandson time.  He enjoys spending time over there and it gives me the opportunity to run errands with one child (which is so much easier than running errands with 2).  Aiden and Papa like to make cookies, watch Price-is-Right, blow bubbles and play outside.  Aiden loves playing in their yard!  They have built a bird house and recently Aiden likes for Papa to push him around in the wheel barrow as he makes a motor noises.  Papa will also push Aiden on the hand truck while Aiden makes motor noises.  They have a good time together!