Ice Cream Social

We hosted our small group's social last night.  It was fun!

Potty Training Progress

Gavin is doing really well with potty training and with his independent personality, he will pretty much do it all by himself anyway.  But unfortunately, naps and bed time has been affected by this "good" thing.  The usual bed time routine of: milk, books, songs and prayer which is already strung out now is taken even longer.  For some reason, he thinks he need to use the bathroom 10 more times before laying down.  After that comes the nightly crying of protest which can go on for another hour or two.  I.SO.dread.it.  And the fact that he can now get in and out of his own bed sure doesn't help.  He won't actually come out of his room (since he knows he's not supposed to), but he'll lay by the door and kick it over and over again.  I figured out that it's best not to go in and just let him be because eventually he'll fall asleep - even if it's right by the door.  Hey whatever works.

• I love that Gavin will come out of his room in the morning and just use the bathroom vs Ethan's way.  By the time I make it out of my room, Gavin has already flushed and done doing his thing.
• I also love that Gavin will at least attempt to wipe his own butt vs Ethan's screaming of "Mommy I'm done!" aka drop whatever you're doing and come wipe my butt for me RIGHT NOW.

On Being a Mamma

I came across this blog post by a lady named Glennon about motherhood and I just loved her honesty! Here's to being real and having "Kairos" moments each and everyday! (Warning: it's a pretty long one!)

Mother-Son Date Night

Ethan has been craving some one-on-one quality time with me which is impossible on a daily basis with Gavin around.  So I fulfilled his request from last summer of mini golfing and off we went.  Not haven't really golf a full 18 hole before, I wasn't sure how it was going to go with him.  But to my surprise, he did REALLY well!  I gave him a few instructions on how/where to stand & swing and he picked it up really fast.  In fact, he beat me on several of the holes with his par 3!  This kid is a natural.  We had fun and also had some quality conversation specifically about being a gentleman - as he thoughtfully pick up my ball from the holes without my prompting.  We ended the night with a free ice cream cone from Mcdonald's (courtesy of the summer reading program coupons from the library).  Gavin also had some QT with daddy and everyone was happy as we came back for bedtime.  I guess that was what they needed lately.

Just for Laughs

Gavin's in the process of potty training and while at the store one day, he said he had to go.  So while walking quickly to the bathroom I told him to "hold it."  A few seconds later, I looked down and saw that Gavin took his hand to grab himself (in the crotch) and was literally "holding it."  Haha.

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Lately, Brian had been coming into the house so quietly that I don't hear him until he comes downstairs already changed out of his work clothes - and startling me a few times.  This is conversation while the kids and I were playing out on the deck yesterday:

Ethan: Daddy's home.
Gavin: Yay, Daddy's home.
Me: Ethan, Daddy's not home.  Stop making stuff up and getting Gavin all excited.
Ethan: Mommy, Daddy is home.
Me: No he is not.
Ethan: Yeah, he's upstairs (must have seen and heard him knocking on the window).
Me (Coming into the house only to see Brian walking downstairs): I guess you're right.
Ethan: I know!  I told you so that you won't be frightened.

VBS: Agency D3

We just finished a busy week of VBS which included a LOT of driving back and forth.  Honestly, I'm exhausted!  It was fun, but at the same time, I'm glad it's over.  I'm not complaining though because I made the commitment to drive all the way to Parkwood Baptist, which is the same one we went to last year even though it's farther away from our new house now.  The first day it took me 35 minutes to get there through all the morning commute, but thankfully I figured out a different route.  After that it only took 20 minutes with fewer stop lights.  THAT is an accomplishment around here =0) Anyway I know there are other programs around here, but I just love Parkwood's VBS program so much.  They do it with such enthusiasm and such excellence that it made me look forward to it every morning.  Along with that, I know they definitely played a huge part in Ethan's spiritual walk last year after he accepted Jesus into his heart.

This year's theme was a spy theme of Agency D3: Discovery, Decide, Defend (1 Peter 3:15).  Honestly, I was more excited than Ethan was.  All he wanted was a t-shirt and the CD and that's it.  But after the first day of it, he was SO excited he could hardly wait to come back for more.  I knew it!  The rest of the week, he was holed up in his room listening to the songs - on repeat.  God showed me this week that what I called "Intense" in Ethan is what his teacher called "Passionate."  She told me that Ethan was very enthusiastic about EVERYTHING so much so that it got his friends pumped up too.  He is the leader of the group and is always the first to say his memory verse.  It's fun to see him so excited for Jesus and what a contagious Christian he has become.

When we got home today this is what he said:

Ethan: I know we didn't go to VBS just to have fun and meet new friends.
Me: Oh yeah, why did we go then?
Ethan: We went to learn about Jesus.
Me (smile and thinking "this kid is 5 going on 15"): You're right!

Discovery of the Week

Within a week from the last post, Gavin is now pretty much potty trained (#1, #2 and almost at night too).  What I've learned the second time around was why fret?  When he's ready, he's ready.  I must say though that we did have one drama that came with it which led to a crib-to-toddler-bed switcheroo that wasn't part of the plan.

What had happened was that a few nights after putting him in his crib, he would scream and cry.  Thinking that was his nightly bedtime separation thing, I let him cry it out.  After it continued on and on, I finally checked on him only to realize that he had to use the bathroom...really bad.  Well last week Thursday, he did the same thing.  After all the screaming and crying, he got a second wind and couldn't go back to sleep.  So I sat in the chair in his room for about an hour or so and eventually left.  Well, the screaming and crying began again.  But this time there was a "thump" that came with it.  Apparently, he decided to climb fall out of the crib in protest.  So I went back in his room for another hour and the whole scenario repeated again.  Yes, he fell out the second time!  Busted his upper lip and bruised his right eye.  This child is self destructive seriously.  Did I mention the time he decide to free fall down the stairs in our rental house just because he didn't want Brian and me to leave for a date???  Anyway at four in the morning, I was tired, I was desperate for sleep so I decided to bring him into our bed.  Not that he went to sleep in fact he was antsy (just like Ethan was) and kept kicking both of us.  Oh, Brian wasn't exactly happy since he had to get up early.

Anyway, the next day I was on a mission.  I assembled his toddler bed and he seemed to like the freedom.  We told him not to come out of his room unless he has to use the bathroom.  And surprisingly, he followed it well - in fact too well (again just like his brother) because he ended up going in his pull-up.  We kept the crib in there for a few days just to make sure the transition would go well.  But apparently that created another drama where the crib shadow on the ceiling freaked him out to the point where he was screaming and crying AGAIN.  So we disassembled the crib and got it out of there.  With the new changes, naps have been short and he's waking up earlier than usual which makes one cranky kid.  But he's slowly adjusting.  During the day, he's in an underwear and during naps, bed times and outings, he's in pull-ups...just in case.  He has an accident here and there, but for the most part he's doing great!  Yay, no more diapers.  No more crib.

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Other that that, Gavin's vocabulary is exploding.  He's stringing words into phrases and it's just so much fun to hear him talk.  Ethan had been teaching me lots and lots and I just can't believe how much he's picking up.  We still have the tantrums but they decreased quite a bit since he can now communicate better.  Some of the words he has been saying:

-he can finally say his own name and Ethan's whole name too
-counting from 1-12
-"DO IT!" (myself)
-"school bus"
-"city bus"
-"Hello.  Daddy."
-"Hey, YOU!" - this one cracks me up every time
-a very dramatic "Oh my GOSH!" (courtesy of Ethan)
-the most agreeable and cutest "Okay"
-(I'll have to update more later)

Just for Laughs

Conversation while at Walmart today:

Gavin (pointing at the suckers at the check out lane): Suckers!
Ethan: No, Gavin you can't have them.  They have too much sugar.

Blackwater Falls

This year's 4th of July started out bright and early.  We woke the kids up about 6 am and headed to Blackwater Falls State Park, WV to meet the McCallisters.  The location was a halfway point for both families so neither one of us have to drive further.  That is a blessing for us considering our children do NOT travel well long distance in the car.  Once we all got there, we picked right up where we left off which is what I love about them!  The weather was gorgeous.  The company was great.  The kids were happy.  The whole day just worked out perfectly!

Reed - McCallister's new addition
 

Yummy BBQ lunch

They all played so well together!

Can't wait until next year!

Apparently, Gavin decided that he wanted to potty train on the way home.  So we had to stop twice.  He stayed dried the whole time though which is awesome.  Ethan wanted to see fireworks SO bad and Brian was able to find one about 30 minutes out of town.  So we parked on the side of the road and waited until it got dark.  The kids were tired but they had fun.  What a perfect ending to a perfect day!!!