Having Kids Is Exhausting!

It's been a busy few days. Kierra (my niece) is back with us for a couple weeks (just watching her during the days), so our schedule is a little different. It's tiring! She's such an easy kid, but with 3 it just takes longer to get anything done. Sunday we spent at the lake with my family (Josh can swim with his life jacket on, no help necessary...see pics)! Monday was busy with breakfast with grandpa and Millwood Park. Tuesday we met the Mommy And Me Group at a park and enjoyed the WONDERFUL weather. Wednesday we picked raspberries with grandma Nancy and had a picnic at Riverfront Park, and today we went to a splash pad nearby and hung out with our mommy and kid friends form the Mommy & Me Group.

Thomas has recently taken a real interest in baseball. He and Dan are out at every opportunity practicing. He can hit off a pitch about 50% of the time right now. It's absolutely adorable and it's great to watch them really really bond. He hits the ball and then runs the bases. So fun! They are both picking up so much new vocabulary. Dan will ask Thomas, "Who do you love?" Thomas replies, "Mommy!" Dad will say, "Who else?" hoping that Thomas will say Daddy. Instead Thomas replies, "Nobody!" I'm not sure where he figured it out, but it's really cute, especially because he loves me! :) He is also starting to begin his sentences with "I" instead of "me." This is a big change!

Joshua is really growing up! You can see in his pictures that he's losing that baby face and becoming a little boy. Sniff! I love that he's stayed so little for me! His vocabulary is so fun to listen to. He loves to tell jokes and often cracks himself up. If someone starts laughing, he'll laugh too, just to be involved. Sometimes he wakes up and just wants a cuddle. I love cuddling him and getting those snuggles. I know they won't last forever. He frequently asks, "You happy mommy?" It's adorable that he takes care of others and makes sure everyone is happy. He is also such a baby kid and is so happy to have Kierra around. He wants to help with her in any way possible. He's recently taken to crying at the door at bedtime, wanting to come lay with me in bed. He cries himself to sleep in front of the door. Sometimes he sticks his hand under the door. If I hold it for a while (by touching my fingers to his), he will calm down and sometimes climb into bed. Makes me want to cry just writing it! He fell asleep this way tonight, and I got him to move out of the way, went in and rocked him and put him in his bed. These days too shall pass too quickly.

Our Firefighters Rock!

Today our neighborhood fire station held a community BBQ. This entailed letting the kids crawl around the fire truck, eating yummy food, and conversing with our neighbors. The boys thought this was a real kick! They saw some familiar friends (aka firefighters) and were thrilled with the freedom in the fire truck. I ran into a friend from college, who just bought a house down the block. Small world!

A Great Day Had By All

Our morning flew by! We got out of the house early and went with the Mommy & Me Group to tour Tomato Street, one of our favorite restaurants! The boys (and other kids) were really well behaved, enjoyed the tour, and got free pizza and pop. Life couldn't get any better for a 2 year old! We then met some of the gals at the park and let all the kiddos run and play. What a great morning! Grandma Patti met us at home for lunch, and after some visiting a late (but long) nap was enjoyed by all. I got to meet the mom's again for Mom's Night Out and watched "Mama Mia." What a great movie! We had so much fun! What a great day!

We've Been Busy!

It's been a while! We've been busy! Last weekend was our yard sale. It went really well and I'm slowly succeeding and getting rid of things we no longer need. This is difficult for me as I find a use for everything! The yard sale was exhausting! I was so tired!!! Dan was kind enough the night before to take the boys to the river for the night so I could get things organized. My first night away from the boys...ever. I was too busy to get caught up in that fact, so it was a great introduction to being away from them overnight! :)

This week has been just as busy with playdates and reorganizing the house. Maybe late to be called Spring Cleaning, but some of this stuff STILL needs to go! Monday we did breakfast with grandpa Bob and a park playdate with our Mommy & Me friends. Today was preschool. The boys really loved making their own English Muffin Pizzas!

We are taking a break from the intense potty-training that has been ongoing since the beginning of July. I'm realizing that I care more than the boys. I'm frustrated and they still don't seem to care. I switched back over to diapers after cleaning up 4 spots in 3 minutes. Joshua seems to be transitioning fine and is still poop-trained. We'll regress a bit on pee-training, but I just don't care right now. My mental health is at stake!

That's What I Get For Going Potty By Myself

All I wanted to do was go potty by myself...with the door closed.




All it cost me was an entire box of Trix cereal, opened this morning.

From Frustrating to Fantastic!

Because there was no wind, when I walked out the door this morning, the smoke hit me hard. We packed up and went out to the lake for some fresh air, sun, and water. The highlight had to be the 2 hours we spent at the beach. Joshua loved swimming and has mastered swimming in a life jacket. Thomas spends his time on the sand and shallow water, preferring to work wonders in mass destruction of sand creations. After some fun at the beach and a great lunch, we attempted nap time. I'm not sure what went wrong in our parenting, but the boys hate napping out of the house. They just suck at it! I got tired of putting them back in bed and trying to force them to sleep, so I followed through with my, "If you get out one more time we're going home," and packed the car and went home. The boys fell asleep after 4 minutes in the car. Not sure who won that one. :( The good news is that they pretty much stayed dry the whole time at the lake! Hooray!

The boys took a super long nap (nearly 3 hours) and we finally woke them up to go look at some houses. We finally found a house that we love. It's in a great neighborhood and does need a little work, but nothing we can't handle (which means it's very minor stuff). It IS at the top of our price range, so we're getting things together to see if it's even possible. It IS exciting though! If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. If not, we keep looking. We are in no rush, but are really excited to have finally found something!

Don't Mess With The Mama

So, Joshua has been wheezing, so we were going to head into the pediatrician this morning. After giving him a breathing treatment last night and this morning, he appeared to be doing better. We had already cancelled our playdate for today, so we went to Mobius for a bit. The boys had a great time! We then went to the KPBX Kids Concert at St. John's Cathedral. It was entitled "Bells and Whistles." The description said it was showing the organ and all sorts of musical instruments involved in the church. The place was packed when we got there. The guy started speaking and about 15 minutes later the boys were done listening. And here I thought 15 minutes was pretty good for their attention span. They were not being loud, just telling each other things and moving around. The lady in front of us turned to Thomas and said, "Shhhh, I'm trying to listen." Thomas almost started crying. I felt really bad for him. I tell ya, the mama bear in me really came up fast. I had to quickly put a lid on my feelings, console Thomas, and we left. Seriously, it's a KIDS CONCERT. If it were an adult event that I had brought my kids to, I would understand. Ugh. We went to lunch. Apparently in my ensuing phone conversations I said "Good Lord" a little too often as it's now Josh's favorite phrase. It's actually really cute. I'll try to catch it on video and add it to this posting! Just a reminder: Don't mess with the mama!

Pickin' Strawberries

Today was strawberry picking day at Greenbluff. Grandma Nancy came with us too! First we explored the farm, pet the goats, played on the tractor, and played in the sand pit filled with peas. The boys were pretty unhappy to leave to go pick strawberries, but were alright with the promise of returning afterwards. We spent about 30 minutes picking strawberries before the boys decided they were done. We paid and played and drove back into town. The highlight of the trip was that both boys stayed dry the entire time! HOORAY!

After dropping off grandma Nancy, we met grandma Patti for lunch at McDonalds. The boys were excited to run freely in the play structure and I was happy to sit and chat with my mom. Unfortunately both boys filled their pants (and I mean filled their underwear) with poo so it was quite the mess to clean up before we got back in the car. YUCK!

After a great nap, the boys went with daddy and grandma and grandpa to a park to ride bikes. I stayed home and made homemade strawberry shortcake with the strawberries and some Chex Mix. I also ran to the store and got some food for the firefighters. Spokane is having some incredible fires right now. The firemen across the street have been working their tails off all day long. In appreciation of them, and understanding that they aren't even getting time to eat, just refuel and head back out, I got them some chicken and doughnuts to keep them going. Hopefully it helps!

Bedtime was late and rough, but they crashed fast around 10:00 PM. This bedtime thing is something we will be soon focusing on. Our time has become inconsistent which does not appear to be helping them. It's nice to be lax in the summer, but is not working out for their temperaments.

You Can NEVER Have Too Much Cereal

For a Tuesday, today was pretty typical. Preschool was great fun. We did ladybugs and the boys thoroughly enjoyed it and we reviewed the life cycle of a ladybug and insect information all day long. It's so much fun to watch your kids gain interest in something and really enjoy learning! I also found out that Joshua knows way more letters than he lets on. He did them with another mom at preschool and did awesome! Way to go Josh!!!! He's holding out on us!

After a great nap, we spent some time outdoors and had dinner. I had to run to the store for milk and randomly found a great cereal sale. I came home with 10 boxes of cereal and 4 gallons of milk. The guys at the checkout were laughing. Little do they know, all of that will last less than 2 weeks. Sad, I know. When they are teenagers, we are screwed. I realized today, we go through 3/4 gallon of milk a day, meaning we buy about 20 gallons of milk a month. It's crazy!

Just Another Day In Paradise

Monday mornings bring breakfast with grandpa. After 3 trips to the bathroom at IHOP, both boys were well-emptied. They did really well all morning! We ran home to grab swim gear and off we went to Millwood Park. Joshua actually asked to go potty twice! HOORAY! Thomas promptly peed on the tennis court. Despite the pee, both boys enjoyed playing tennis with each other. It's amazing their memories. We've been to this park multiple times, but never seen anyone play tennis. Apparently Thomas remembered the courts though and insisted on bringing his "tennis." I realized he remembered and wanted to play himself, and that's where he spent nearly the entire playdate!

After a naptime filled with biting, tears, and arguing, the boys were separated and slept peacefully for nearly 3 hours. A trip to Northwest Seed and Pet for ladybugs and the boys were off with daddy. I got a blissful 4 hours by myself with the other organizers from my Mommy & Me Group. I "accidentally" "forgot" my phone, so there were no interruptions!

I've just finished painting 40 lima beans red for preschool tomorrow. About 20 of the 1500 ladybugs purchased today are in jars (don't worry, holes have been poked) waiting for those eager hands tomorrow (the other ladybugs are already in the garden). The boys are asleep and I'm getting stuff ready for preschool tomorrow. For us, just another day in paradise.

Loooooooooooooooooong Weeeeeeeeekend

Boy, this has been a long weekend! Potty-training is going alright. The boys are spending all day in their underwear. There are accidents, and we have not yet mastered pooping on the potty, but it seems to be getting better. I think the big moment comes when Dan goes back to work. Two kids and one adult, and it's just constant.

We spent Thursday and Friday night out at the river and the boys had a blast. They were able to spend a little time on the beach (Hey, where'd the sun go?), but mostly played on the merry-go-round and airplane. Aside from getting them to sleep (as in they didn't actually fall asleep until 12:30 AM the first night), it was super easy to stay there. The boys enjoyed the fireworks. Joshua was a little disturbed with the loud ones, but once back inside, he enjoyed watching them more.

We came home this morning and continued the potty-training experience. The good news is, we bought more underwear, so we're better stocked for the coming days. The bad news is, we have a busy week, so this will be challenging.

Dan says to me this evening, "Today's only Saturday? I don't even get to go to work tomorrow?" You know it's bad when he's ready to go back to work. I had to assure him this potty-training thing would get easier. Hope I'm right.

Happy 4th of July!!!!

In case I don't get to write tomorrow, Happy Fourth of July to all our friends, family, and other readers! I'm just finishing my 2 batches of Chex Mix before loading the van and heading out. Tonight it's off to Post Falls to my in-laws place on the Spokane River. Dan is currently biking out there! Impressive! Because the "poop and smear" incidents continue, this weekend we are going to work really hard with the boys on potty training...at least Joshua (the offender). Wish us luck!!!

You Look Like Updog

Today we had a free class at My Gym. No pics, but it was fun! Joshua is getting pretty good at the monkey bars and loves to volunteer in class. Thomas is pretty shy but once he gets going, he's hard to stop. They both have great balance and did well with the balance beam and hanging on the trapeze bar and doing flips. Pretty impressive! I wish we could sign up for actual regular classes, but the free ones will do for now. After class, we went over to Millwood Park for a Mommy & Me Meetup. I was a little late, so some people were heading out, but we did get to sit and visit with some friends. After such a busy morning, we were home by 1:00 PM and the boys passed out for a great nap. We (and I do mean WE) woke up 3 hours later and hopped into the car again. Northwest Seed and Pet is a great store for kids. The boys absolutely love it. Today there were pigs, cats, dogs, a goat, and the usual alligator and fish. We then got some supports for our beans and peas that are growing in the garden. Daddy met up with us and we went to Costco for our monthly shopping and dinner. Costco, bath, bed. Easy day for us!

Dan today taught Thomas to say, "Mommy you look like Updog." Then I say, "What's Updog?" And Dan cracks up. The joy of having kids.

We Like It Hot Hot Hot!

It was crazy hot today. We were busy this morning with preschool. It wasn't necessarily an academic day, but the kids did some great Fourth of July crafts that turned out really cute! The boys were still exhausted from camping and being off schedule, so they crashed a bit early (and really hard). They took a great nap. This meant I got to clean up and make some home made bread. YUM! It turned out really good and is really yummy. We went outside to play while dinner was in the oven. Ba (Aunt Kim) came over and watched the boys while Dan and I went to a church class. It's nice to get out once a week and have some time to chat. Got home, put the boys to bed. Dan is currently putting in the 2nd air conditioner. I jimmy-rigged it in the window today. He's doing the job for real now.



Left to Right: Joshua, Jordan, Natalie, Gavin, April, Thomas, Jameson