Great Wolf Lodge Vacation

Last week we trekked up to the Poconos for a vacation getaway with our good friends, the Rawlings family. It was lots of fun! The Great Wolf Lodge is beautiful, and the kids loved their bunk beds in the "Wolf Den"!

Supper at the Longhorn Steakhouse

After a fun-filled afternoon of swimming in the awesome waterpark, it was time for a "Girls' Night Out". First stop: the arcade! We had an absolute blast trying our feet at Dance Dance Revolution. What made it even better- doing it in our pajamas! After that we went to the bar and shared a quesadilla. Eventually. *Ahem*

We had so much fun. Thanks to the Rawlings family for sharing your vacation with us. The kids had a great time, and so did we!

Happy Half-birthday, Connor!

"Have a very merry un-birthday..." okay, so that's stuck in my head now.

Connor turned 6 months old on Wednesday. I can't believe my baby is half-way to his 1st birthday already! We had his 6 month check-up on Tuesday, and he is doing very well. Connor is 27 1/2 inches long and 18 lbs. He's a big boy! He is between 50-75th percentile for weight and between 75th-90th for height. Checking back through Owen's baby book, at 6 months old he was exactly the same length as Connor, but he weighed 19lbs 11oz!!!

Here are some recent pictures of my (big) little boy:

He's SO close to crawling!

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Super-baby!

And a few recent ones of my other little loves:

I love ya, babe

Today is my and Adam's 9th anniversary. Holy crap! Where did the time go? We've been together for 10 1/2 years now- we first started dating at the tender ages of 16 and 18, respectively.


Adam- I love you so much. You've brought a lightness to my heart that I honestly never thought I'd see. You push me to be a better person, and are there for me when I fall. I'm so lucky and so very happy to be your wife.


Love,
Me

1999

2007

Sum-sum-summertime!

Yesterday we spent a great day with Ashley, Shawn and Landon at the Middleburg pool. It was a bit cloudy and chilly outside, but we had a great time! Riley has been itching to go to the pool, and Owen had a great time splashing around with his best friend Shawn.

Best Buddies

The babies

Ashley and Landon

Daddy and Connor

Shawn

Connor's first pool experience. He didn't like it.

What a great day! Thanks Rawlings family for spending it with us!

Yum!

Chicken and Corn Chili

This is what we had for supper tonight. It's really good and very easy to make. We had it with homemade bread (we seem to have that once a week or so- I love my bread machine!!!)

Prep Time: 15 minutes, Cook time: 6 to 8 hours, Serves 6

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 (16 oz.) jar salsa
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 (15 oz.) can pinto beans
1 (11 oz.) can Mexican-style corn

Directions:

1. Place chicken in the slow cooker the night before you want to eat this chili (I never do b/c I always forget- I really don't think it makes that big of a difference). Season with garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Cook 6 to 8 hours on Low setting.

2. About 3 to 4 hours before you want to eat, shred the chicken with 2 forks. Return the meat to the pot. Stir the corn and pinto beans (undrained) into the slow cooker and continue cooking until done.

Girl Scout Closing Ceremony

Adam and I attended the closing ceremony for Riley's Girl Scout troop last week. It was so special to see our girl up there in front of everyone. She received 14 badges for all her hard work this year! Way to go Riley- we are so proud of you!

Pee Pee on the POTTY!!!

I've decided that it's time to put my foot down when it comes to Owen and the potty. He's 3 and a half years old, and was showing absolutely no interest. I, however, am getting so tired of the dirty diaper assembly line between the two boys, that I figured I'd have better luck potty training the 3 1/2 year old than I would with the 4 month old ;-)

I started on Thursday afternoon after picking Riley up from the bus stop by letting Owen just run around the house naked for a few hours, hoping that he would at least go SIT on the potty at some point. By the time 6 p.m. rolled around and it was time for supper, I put a diaper back on him so that we wouldn't have any "surprises" at the dinner table. Wouldn't you know it, by the time we were finished eating, his diaper was FULL of pee. Arghh!!! At this point it's almost time for bed, so we gave up on it for that day.

Friday morning after a speech therapy session with Jodi, we had a few errands to run, so the diaper stayed on. Then it was home in time for lunch, a nap, and then to pick Riley up from the bus stop. As soon as we got home, we took his diaper off for some more naked time. As Owen was playing, he started to pee a little bit, so we ran into the bathroom and sat right down on the potty seat. This did not go well. Poor little guy had to go so badly that he couldn't hold it anymore, but was screaming and crying that he wanted his diaper and that he was scared :-( I felt so bad about this (and still do), but I held him down so that he could not get off the potty until he was finished, all the while he's crying and screaming. At that point I wanted to cry, too, but I know that he needed to be pushed, so to speak, or else he'd be happy in diapers for a long time to come.

I finally got him calmed down for the most part and he finished. I'll admit- I'm not above bribery in situations like these with my kids. I promised him that if he went pee pee on the potty again, we'd go right to Walmart and he could pick out a toy. It took quite a while of me sitting on the bathroom floor holding his hand while he tried, but he did it! Of course I packed all the kids up and off to Walmart we went, even though it was almost 7 p.m. and soon Owen's bedtime. He chose a train named Dennis from the Thomas the Tank Engine series :-)

Today, we have had MUCH success! Maybe even a little too much, lol. I printed out a reward chart for Owen, so that every time he goes to the potty, he gets a sticker on the chart. When it's full, he gets a new Matchbox car (thank God they cost less than a buck!) He went a few times on the potty this morning (each time I was by his side holding his hand). Then it was off to Walmart again to pick out another train (this time it was a train names Stanley), for keeping up the good work. I also of course needed to get some new underwear for our big boy (Scooby Doo ones!), and some stickers, markers, poster board and a glue stick for our reward chart. All in all, Owen peed on the potty 13 times today!!!

And I am exhausted. Who know potty training could be so tiring? Looking back, it was pretty darn easy with Riley. Then again, they say it's harder with boys. By this afternoon, Owen was so excited and proud of himself that he was literally going about every 15 minutes. And of course I had to go with him and hold his hand. I hope the going every 15 minutes part of it doesn't last long.

Here are some pics from our successful day:

We are so proud of you Owen!

Connor's 4-month check-up OR Foody Faces

Today was Connor's 4-month check-up. He's not officially 4 months old until Friday. He did very well at the doctor's office, aside from the 3 shots :-( Connor weighs 15lbs 1 oz, which is in the 50th percentile, and 26 inches long, which is in the 75th percentile. That's a far cry from the 18lbs 5oz. that Owen weighed at 4 months old!

Owen was a very well behaved boy today too, except for one instance. He was reading a Ranger Rick magazine, and the doctor was asking him about the pictures before he started examining Connor. Owen wasn't too happy to have the center of attention shift to his little brother, so he wanted to show the doctor some more pictures in the magazine. When the doctor wasn't paying attention to him, Owen thought he'd try harder by saying, "Maaannnn...hey, maaaannnnnnnnnnn! Man! HEY, MAN!!!" Little stinker.

We got the official go-ahead to start trying rice cereal. If he does well on that, I think we're going to try veggies within the next month or so.

Connor didn't know quite what to think about the rice cereal, but I think we managed to get down about a tablespoonful. Big brother thought it was hilarious that Connor couldn't keep most of it in his mouth :-)

Some pics of my little Foody Face:

The Before

The After

Springtime Fun Event

Yesterday we went to the Springtime Fun Event at the Lewisburg park, hosted by CSIU, from whom Owen receives Speech Therapy. It was so much fun! And such a beautiful day to be outside enjoying the park!

As soon as we got there, Owen went straight to the "Sensory Table", where all the other kids were. It was basically just a table filled with dried corn kernels (at least I think that's what they were), that they could play with.

After that, they read a story- The Very Hungry Caterpillar- and then the kids were able to choose one of the tables at the pavillion to do an activity, or to go straight to the playground to play. Owen decided he wanted to go to the play dough table, so off we went!

This is what Connor did the whole time:

When he was done with that, we went over to the craft table, where Owen made the most adorable butterfly. They used clothespins, little colored pom-poms, and coffee filters. Great idea! When we got home I cut a little magnet and glued it to the back, so now Owen's butterfly resides on our fridge!

We stopped by the coloring table where Owen met the cutest little girl named Lulu. They colored together for a little while, but Owen was eager to get to the playground.

Owen had a great time playing on all the cool toys at the playground. He LOVED going down the big kid slides. Mommy even went down one with him- luckily the battery in the camera died before Daddy could get a picture of that!

We had a great day, and it was so nice to see Angela (Owen's beloved teacher from when he was in the Birth to Three program), and his new teacher, Michelle. It was a nice morning for Daddy, Mommy, Owen and Connor to spend together. We were just sorry that Riley had to be stuck in school and couldn't be there ;-) We are definitely going to be returning to the Lewisburg park and the awesome pool they have this summer though when Riley can come along.

Stretttcchhh!

Every night when I go up to bed, I pick Connor up so I can change his diaper and feed him before I go to sleep. I have to unwrap his swaddling blanket, and it's so funny to watch him stretch- I had to share some pictures.

I love these moments with the kids, especially when they are still babies. It definitely doesn't last long, so you have to enjoy it while you can!