August 2009

Another month has flown by and almost every day there's been something that's made me stop and think, "Oh!  I need to put that on the blog!"  Pretty soon there's so many things I'm trying to remember to post about that I get overwhelmed and do what I do best... procrastinate.  Hopefully I can remember everything! :)

First and foremost:  EDDIE IS POTTY TRAINED!!! 

The week following our stay-cation I bought Eddie some new underwear (featuring Buzz Lightyear, Nemo, Incredibles, Cars, and Wall-e) and we just went cold-turkey.  I had promised myself after potty-training Jack that we would forgo pull-ups altogether since they were really just a glorified diaper.  Jack wore pull-ups for about a month before we realized he knew he was essentially wearing a diaper and therefore really didn't care whether he made it to the potty or not.  Once we got rid of the pull-ups he was potty-trained fairly quickly and we had learned our lesson.  

So - no pull-ups, just undies.  Day 1 yielded 2 or 3 accidents, but Eddie quickly caught on to what he needed to do and was trying hard to make it to the potty on time.  Day 2 results were 1/2 that.  And since then (4 weeks) he's had only a few mishaps.  I cannot even describe how shocked I was/am that it was so easy this time around!  He required no bribery (I think we almost went broke buying cars as rewards for Jackson!) and is even dry overnight about 80% of the time.  Hallelujah!  I can only pray that Norah and any future children will be so easy!

 

Here's Eddie on Potty-Training Day 1.  You can't tell from the picture, but he's totally naked from the waist down :).  He spent most of the first few days commando since he was so excited about his new underwear that he'd take them off to see which characters were on the backside. Here I was feeding Norah and he walked up to me wearing my scarf and my diaper bag saying, "Mommy, look!  I a-Mommy!"  It was so cute!  Especially when he turned around to walk away and I noticed he had lost his pants and undies during his travels.

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WORDS OF JACK (Some of these I posted on FB so some of you may have already seen them :):

#1

Mommy:  "Jack, you need to clean up your playroom.  You made a huge mess in there!"

Jack:  "But mom, I can't a-cause I need a big woman to help me! (Long pause....)

Jack:  "Mom, are you a woman?"

#2

(Sitting behind a balding gentleman at church)

Jack (pointing and whispering...er...talking loudly):  "Mom, why he not have any hair right there on his head?"

#3

(Jackson standing by the door with his hands suspiciously behind his back.)

Mommy:  "Jack - what do you have in your hands?"

Jackson (backing away slowly):  "It's NOT a moth!"

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The Kiddos:

 She's almost 8 months and the novelty of dressing her up on Sunday morning still hasn't worn off.  I don't think it ever will. :)

And would you look at this kid?!  He's growing up so quickly and keeps us entertained with his non-stop commentary/questions.  Jack will be starting preschool for the first time on Sept. 8.  He'll be going Monday - Thursday from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. and to say he's eXcItEd would be a huge understatement.  I have no shame in admitting that I'm gearing up for an emotional few days on my end (yes, I KNOW it's just preschool and it's only a few hours a day... BUT - he's my first to do this and I'm going to miss him!).  However, Justin and I both feel this is necessary since it will help us decide whether to start Jackson in Kindergarten next year (which would essentially make him the youngest kid in his class since his birthday is just before the cut-off) or whether to wait a year longer.  (This has been a big debate.. Do we want him to graduate at 17 and have a year of work and/or college completed before he goes on his mission?  Or do we want him to be able to graduate and then leave on his mission a month later?  Does it matter if he's the youngest in his class?  Sorry - clearly this has been on my mind a LOT lately!  LOL!

Anyway, I am excited that Eddie and I will have lots of one-on-one time while Norah is napping and Jack is at school.  

Somewhere Jackson learned how to 'model pose' for pictures.  I have no idea where he picked it up, but it cracks me up that whenever I pull out the camera he starts posing.  

Eddie patiently waiting for his turn to get an 'underdog!' from Mommy.

Look at that smile!  I just love this little man.  Eddie's vocabulary and talking in complete sentence capability has grown exponentially over the past couple of months.  He copies almost everything Jackson says so Justin and I have gotten used to Eddie saying, "That right, Daddy?", "Say pleeaassee," (whenever we ask him to do something), "I wanna watch a mouse!" (Tom and Jerry), "Close your eyes!" (when he's showing us something he's built/done in the playroom.), "Come here, I'll show you!", "No!  I no want to do that!", and my FAVORITE:

"Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"Mommy?"

"What, Eddie?"

"Mommy?"

"I'm listening, Eddie!"

"Mommy...I love you!"

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We received the shock of the century when my Dad called one night a few weeks ago and said he was on his way to come visit us.  We've been trying to get him out here for five years now and have begged and pleaded, but there was always something holding him back from making the journey.  So to have him call and announce he was on his way just totally took us off guard!  It took him three days to get from Montana to our home, but his journey went well and we even surprised him by having Jayne and Oliver drive up to be here when he arrived.  The boys were SO happy to see their Grandpa!  And Grandpa was SO happy to see the boys again and meet Oliver and Norah for the first time.  He was blown away by how big the boys had gotten since he last saw them two years ago at Jayne's wedding.. And of course Norah had him wrapped around her little finger from the get-go.  

Dad spent a week here and did his fair share of wrestling, putting puzzles together, and watching Tom and Jerry with the kids.  It was so great to see him again and we hope he will make it back down here soon!  Right now he's up at Lake Winnipesaukee (yes...as in What About Bob!) carving and selling.  He journeyed up north to find his family and to try to reconnect with his son (my half-brother), Asa, whom he hasn't seen since Asa was 2 yrs. old.  We just talked to my dad a few days ago and found out that not only did he manage to track down a phone number for Asa, but he was also able to talk to him!  Asa wants to meet my Dad and I'm SO excited for my Dad since he's been nervous about this moment for as long as I can remember.  It was really special hearing my Dad talk about how Asa told my dad that he love him and even called him 'Dad'.  Wow.  I can't wait to meet my BrOtHeR!!!  And I even found out that I have a niece named Kennedy Lane (how cute!).  She's 20 months old and I can't wait to see a picture to see if she looks like my kiddos at all.  :)

Grandpa and Baby Girl.  Now you can all see where my recessive blue-eye gene trait comes from.  :)

Grandpa and his grandsons.  (Don't mind my Dad's long hair.. He shocked the heck out of us when he arrived with his woman hair and Jayne and I harassed him sufficiently to get it cut, but apparently he promised the old man he bought his Harley from that he wouldn't cut his hair for two years per Harley tradition.  I've never heard of such a thing, but according to legend if you don't cut your hair for two years than you'll never be involved in an accident while riding your bike.  Whatever.  Anyway, my Dad as a little less than a year left to complete the requisite 2 years...THANK goodness!  Really, he looks SO much better with his NORMAL short hair!

 

The boys LOVED 'riding' (i.e. sitting) on the Harley.  

Seriously...We had to pry them off of the seats whenever they got out to the garage.  Little do they know that their mommy will NEVER let them ride a motorcycle!!! HaHaHaHa!!! 

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And one more thing (which warrants it's own section because I had to take shoes back TWICE before Justin approved of my picks!  He may not be difficult about much, but shoes are one thing Justin is extremely anal about.) - I finally found shoes for Jack and Eddie!  Any hopes I had of Eddie wearing Jack's hand-me-down shoes were dashed a couple of months ago when Eddie's feet suddenly became as big a Jack's.  Therefore, both boys were in desperate need of new sneaks as flip-flop season is coming to a close.  My dad and I canvassed the mall while he was here to no avail.  Then Justin and I went to a few stores last weekend and were unable to find anything!  Finally, this past week I loaded up the kids and vowed that we would not return home until they had their shoes!  Five stores later...

And yes - those ARE little pink and white DC's!  Aren't they adorable?!  I couldn't pass them up and Justin didn't even mind... too much. :)