Thursday, April 28, 2011

Some Spring Pictures

Happy Easter!






We had an easter egg hunt with some friends at the park on Good Friday. Ryan is the kid at the top of the photo (above) standing by the stroller. He had absolutely no interest in picking up the eggs. Alyna picked up about 6, and then she was done even though there were several just lying at her feet.



Kellyn's first time in the big bathtub... 8 months old. Right after I took this picture both Ryan and Alyna joined her in the tub. They actually saved their splashing and wrestling for when Kellyn got out.



Splish, splash... we've already had some 90 degree days...




Kellyn gets her own little pool this year... she loves to sit in it and play with her toys.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Picnic Fail... but it was fun anyway

Yesterday we called a service to have our yard sprayed for weeds (because they get so bad in our area). They said it would be 2 weeks... and then the guy shows up at 9:30 this morning. The spray is animal and kid safe once it dries, but I still don't like the kids to play in it for a couple days after the spray because Ryan still puts things in his mouth that he shouldn't.

The kids had been playing outside for a while and didn't like it when I picked up all their outside toys and made them come inside. So I figured we better go have lunch at a park so they could run off some of that 2 year old energy.

We go to the park on Fridays at lunch time a lot, and I usually just hit the Wendy's drive thru and put some chicken nuggets and fries in their cup holders to eat while we drive to the park. Then when we get there they play while I eat my lunch and feed Kellyn hers.

But since we ate at McDonald's yesterday, I didn't want to do yucky fast food again. So I took a container with ham, turkey, and chunks of cheddar cheese, and another container with strawberries and bananas slices.

It was the perfect spring day weather for the outing. Warm and sunny with a nice soft breeze blowing through the trees.

The kids immediately went to the swings, and I put Kellyn on a big blanket with some toys in the shade of a large tree nearby. A school group had left just as we pulled up, and we were the only ones at the park. I pushed them on the swings for a while, and then went to feed Kellyn her bottle while they played on the slides.

The picnic part didn't work out so well. Ryan only wanted to eat the cheerios that are Kellyn's little finger food snack. Then at one point while I was looking over at Kellyn, ALyna tried to step over the container of meat to reach for a strawberry, and she tipped all the meat onto the blanket. When I had laid the blanket out I realized that it had dog hair all over it, and then our meat did too. The kids all kept fussing because the bugs were buzzing around their heads if they stayed still for too long.

Then some friends showed up. I had put out on Facebook right before we left that we were going to the Harry McAdams state park, but I didn't really expect anyone else to meet us there on such short notice. I've met Kelly and son George through the MOPS program and also the Friday park playdates. George is just a couple months younger than the twins, and they seem to get along really well. Ryan always comes home from MOPS talking about playing with him.

So the kids played for a while, and then we all walked over to the pond to throw some bread to the ducks. We did that until the kids started wandering too far away from us and then we headed back to the playground.

Alyna and Ryan were exhausted and cranky by the time we got home which was right at their normal nap time. After quick potty stops they both climbed in bed. Kellyn had fallen asleep in her car seat, so I just brought the carrier inside the house and put it in her room. She woke up just a few minutes ago and I moved her to her bed.

I sit here under the cool breeze of a ceiling fan, looking out the big window at the red flowers, pink roses, and green trees. I can faintly hear sound from the lullabies playing in the kids room, and I feel supremely blessed by God.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Doing well so far...

Note: We currently only have 3 pair of underwear in the 18 month size that will stay up on Ryan's hips. The Cars underwear I bought to entice him are size 2T and just fall right off. I've ordered more of the 18 month size, but they aren't here yet, so I'm working with 3 pair for this week.

Monday: quickly went through all 3 pair of underwear and went to pullups the rest of the day, no successful potty trips

Tuesday: our outings day with Ladies Bible Class and lunch, so I put him on the potty several times but we just used Pull-Ups

Wednesday: peed all over underwear and the floor mid-morning, peed in his Pull-Up at nap time, mid-afternoon I saw him start to wiggle and put him on the potty... success. Wore Pull-Up to church and stayed dry. Peed at home before bedtime. = 2 pees in the potty

Thursday (today): woke up wet, put on "dinosaur" underwear, saw him start to dance around snack time... Success again. He had peed the slightest amount before making it to the potty, but at least it didn't end up as a mess on the floor.

It's working. Of course, then there's the pooping issue...

Monday, April 4, 2011

We did it, Hooray!

I'm calling Alyna officially potty trained.

She wore panties all weekend, except for overnight, and didn't have any accidents. And the only accidents she's had in the last 2 weeks were when we were out and couldn't make it to the potty in time, but she had told us before-hand.

At Opryland hotel she told us she had to go potty, and I started following signs to the restroom. We got in there, pulled down her pants and her pull-up, and oops there she went. She held it while we were looking, but I just couldn't get her up on the toilet in time.

The nice thing is that she only pees in her pull-up overnight probably 2 nights a week. The rest of the time she wakes up to use the potty in the early morning and then goes back to sleep.

This week I'm really starting on Ryan.

Friday, April 1, 2011

beautiful spring day

It's 82 degrees outside, and the first beautiful rose just opened up this morning on the bush outside my picture window. We had a playdate at the church this morning with 3 year old Cole so that his mom and I could work on the upcoming ladies day ToDo list. I took the 3 kids at Wendy's, and then to the park for more playtime with lots of other moms and babies/kids.

Kellyn conked out on the way home from the park, and the twins have finally given in to nap time. I didn't get much sleep last night but the sunshine energized me so I don't want to go take a nap now. I'm going to have some "Me" time, and stream the Dave Ramsey show on the internet.