Our 4 Day Weekend

Jason had to do a TON of work over last weekend, so he decided he'd turn this 3 day weekend everyone was getting into a four day. The only question was would he do his extra day off on Thursday or Monday? When we considered that he wanted to take Easton to keyboard class, we opted for Monday.

So, Friday we started with breakfast at IHOP. It is one of Jason's least favorite places in the world but when I said, "Where do you want to go?" and he said, "I don't know...where do you want to go?" I was honest and said IHOP and mentioned our BOGO. That sold him. He didn't love his breakfast, he never does, and so he could be found munching on the grapes I brought for the kids. :)

After breakfast we decided to stop by "the cool park" where we played for a little while and then the boys soaked themselves in the fountains yet again. It was a good time.

Later in the afternoon we headed out to the bunk bed store to make our decision. We were there a LONG time but we finally decided, we just couldn't bring it home with us in the Saturn...J was going to need to come back with his truck at some other point, but we'd made the purchase at least.

Saturday, the 4th, I made pancakes for breakfast and then we had fun one-on-one time plans with the boys.

First, Jason and Easton headed over to one of the Home Depot FREE kids workshops that Jessica told us about. They made an adorable little picnic caddy and Easton got a special "badge" to pin on his shirt seen here 'round the New England area:


Meanwhile, Dalton and I took his tricycle over to the little park:


How cute is my boy?

He discovered a baby swing is not so comfortable to him without a diaper (he was in underpants) so he moved over to the big boy swing:




We headed home and then disaster struck: I had put the camera in the back of the tricycle to bring home and Jason was being helpful and hung the trike back up in the garage...except I hadn't mentioned the camera and he forgot/didn't realize it was in there...so it fell on the floor of the garage and the screen went blank. :(

My camera broke.

But, Easton and I had plans together next. So we took a picture with my camera phone instead:

Instead of having him do quiet time, just my first born and I went to see "Up" together. The movie held his attention but I don't think he could grasp the whole story just yet. My favorite part was that after we finished our popocorn he sat on my lap and snuggled me for, like, an hour and a half straight. He was getting tired so I even carried him to the car where he fell asleep:

I was hoping to keep him asleep as the fireworks would mean a late night for him, but I think he just rested in his bed for a bit instead of falling back asleep.

I busied myself in the kitchen making homemade potato salad (for the first time, and it was DEEEElish!) and a pecan pie and some pico de gallo. Num num!

We also attempted a pipe cleaner firework craft we saw in the latest Parents magazine:

Soooooooooooooooo messy!

My mom and Lauren came over after awhile bringing brisket and we enjoyed a nice little dinner followed by some Wall-E while we waited on the fireworks. Dalton had been doing phenomenally with the potty training actually had two accidents while they were here. :( I think all the added excitement had him a little distracted. He's been back on track ever since, however...well, for pee anyway.

Anyhoo...

The fireworks started around 9:30 and we can see the show really well from our front yard so we piled onto the sidewalk in our camping chairs and watched the show. Easton was probably the least into it of everyone. Dalton, however, was constantly saying things like, "Yook, Mommy!" "It's you favorite color!" "Sparkly!" with each one. Pretty cute.

The boys were sooooooo cranky when they were over and I was glad to put them away in their beds. Easton slept till nearly 9:00 the next morning, Dalton, not so much. Oh well.

We had church and they were doing an all-church picnic, so they only had one service that day and boy was it crowded but it was nice. Everyone came in their casual clothes and I think it really loosened everyone up for worship.

We sent Dalton in a Pull-Up and apparently he'd pooped in them. :( I snuck out of the service to take him potty and that's when she told me she'd just changed a poop. But he peed for me when I took him...he must've saved that part. :)

After church was over we all headed outside for burgers and hot dogs and chips and snacks and fellowship. The people who had invited us to their small group asked us to come sit near them and the other "marriage group" folks so we did. The boys jumped in bounce house and ran around. Jason competed with E in a 3 legged race while holding D's hand too.

Jason banged on our broken camera a few times and got the screen to come back, with "Wonder Years vignette" lines all over it. However, the camera was in his pocket on Sunday so that explains why we don't have a single picture of any of that festiveness. He's not in the "must capture every moment" mindset I'm in. :) However, he should be since I'm the one with the great memory, not him. He'll need pictures to remind him.

On Sunday night my mom and Lauren came up again to babysit the boys so Jason and I could go on a date. We went to a place called Cinnebarre which is one of those movie theather/restaurants. We saw "My Sister's Keeper" and ate.

Monday was Jason's bonus day off. We started off with our usual doughnuts. The little guys and I went to get them while Jason ran to get gas for the lawn mower. We ate breakfast outside and then Jason got to work mowing the lawn. That's when Dalton pooped his drawers again. Oh well. I had a feeling he'd regress with the pooping. And he did. But for pee he's been 100% during his awake times.

After J mowed we buzzed his and Easton's heads and then rushed to get them showered and everyone dressed for our plans for the day. An old friend of Jason's was in town with her family and we were headed up to a town called Eldorado Springs to meet them at a state park. First we hung out by a the river/creek:




Apparently the water was freezing but the kids waded and dug in the mud and got themselves all kinds of wet and dirty. As we were setting up for lunch at a nearby picnic table Easton got into some tree sap which we could NOT get off even with 5 minutes of scrubbing in the bathroom and wet wipes and such. He was soooooooo mad about it and eventually J's pal was like, "hey doesn't peanut butter get all kinds of stuff off?" so we rubbed the leftovers of her daughter's sandwich on E's hands and it actually did pretty well. Enough to get him to stop screaming "I am SO MAAAAAAAAAAAAD!" and eat some lunch.

After lunch we went on a tiny hike. Very manageable for the kids and me. :) Here we are waiting on someone to run back to the cars for a special trail guide:


My favorite part about the picture is my cankles hanging over my socks (my swelling is not as manageable as of late) and the dimpled appearance of my tree trunk calves.

The dimpled part is not so normal for me (not in my calves, anyway)...there's quite a bit of fluid in there. :(

But I kept on truckin'!




After we finished our mini-hike we bid adieu to our pals and headed for home. Our frat-boy was exhausted:


When we got home, it was finally warm enough to set up the Slip and Slide for the first time! While we've had warmer days, Jason wanted to be sure he was part of the maiden SNS voyage so yesterday afternoon was the perfect time.










Our yard has zero slope to it and the little guys just can't run fast enough/don't weigh enough to make it all the way to the pool at the end. But Jason sure could. I was sad I had to miss out this year. :) The guys sure had fun, though and then we had to come in so Easton and Jason could head to piano. Dalton and I watched a little "McQueen" (Cars), folded laundry, and played in the basement. While Easton's been in a bit of a difficult phase lately, Dalton is totally enjoyable and I just have so much fun with him whatever we do.

An example of Easton's difficultness...this morning we were sitting down to some leftover doughnuts from yesterday. Each boy only had one. And Easton, still hungry, tried to steal Dalton's off his plate, I wouldn't let him, so he then started throwing a fit that he's way to old to be throwing and whipping his napkin in Dalton's face. I sent him away to calm the heck down. When he returned, my sweet sweet Diddles actually rewarded E's behavior by giving him his only doughnut! Awwwwwwww:


Eastie happily shared a few bites back:


Then he gave Dalton rides around the living room on our ride-on Thomas. Then he started being a punk again after awhile. Oh well.

Then Dalton, who is working towards a reward now, made his daily poo in the potty instead of his pants today. Yay!

The other news from today is that I'm now 7 months pregnant. Just 2 months till the due date. So I took a picture:


And that, my friends, wraps up this post. Whew. Till next time! Come back if you dare. ;)

I didn't blog over the weekend, since I usually don't and all. Monday was a Pearl/Wabie post. Tuesday and Wednesday were OB posts. So, finally here on Thursday it's time for some recappage. Major recappage.

I guess it's back to Friday afternoon. We must've had a rainstorm that day because my pictures are of Easton running around outside in the rain in his Batman costume and bare-buns Dalton checking it out too:


And Dalton warming up on the bare floor when the lighting and thunder got too close together for them to stay outside:


Saturday morning was t-ball again. Gramoo and Lauren came to the game yet again, mostly because Gramoo was nice enough to sew up a hole in E's jersey for me and coming to the game was the easiest way to return it. :) I think that while Easton's definitely got some true t-ball skillz, it's also a heck of a lot of standing around which is not a real strong suit of his. So he was a bit of a wonk at times but when it was his turn to bat and then run he was happy:


I have to zoom in on his face for you, he's freaking adorable how happy he is making sure we're all watching as he runs for first:


Sunday was church and I got called out for Easton. Apparently they took him to the potty and as he's primarily a pot-sitter for now I guess he didn't pull his pants down enough and peed on the back of them. :( So, he was super duper embarassed because 3 different adults were like, "Oh, let me see." My poor little guy. So they called me and I went to get him but he wouldn't get out of his seat to come talk to me. I don't know if he was still that embarassed or if he thought he'd be in trouble. We went out to the car where I had some dry stuff for him, not that gym shorts are what he'd typically wear to church but you make due, right? Anyway, that was the excitement from Sunday. :(

Oh wait, we also went for our annual family portraits that day. We didn't do them on Father's Day this year because we had the baseball game so it would've been too much. I pick them up on the 8th but we weren't as happy with them this time. It was hard to pick even one decent shot of all 4 of us. There's some cute ones of the boys though, you can look forward to those.

Monday found us going out for doughnuts again and then we came home and did a little playing in the backyard. Easton was being a cat and Dalton was being a dog:


But a doggie in new Diego football underpants!!!


He started remembering underpants aren't a diaper and he's been doing really well still. In fact, I think we're upgrading to official potty training now as I can't see going backwards.

Here's my kitty:


And he laid under the picnic table and called it his "cat box" (this is not the same thing as a litter box to Easton):


Doggies like dirt!


And apparently kitty cats like to pose:


After lunch and quiet time, I remember that it's nearly time for E's keyboard lessons and I haven't helped him practice anything all week. So we do a little cram session:


It scares me how old I look right here:


Then we go off to his class and Dalton and I have to find something to do for 45 minutes. Well, wouldn't you know it...the "library truck" (as E called it) or the "Bookmobile" as they really call it parks in front of the rec center for much of that time. We went in before class to see how long they'd be there and then Dalton and I went back after we dropped E off in his classroom. I was pretty impressed with the set up and selection inside the ol' library truck there. We checked out quite a few books and got our reading program prizes for the week:


Tuesday was the doctor in the morning and then gymnastics in the afternoon. Easton behaved MUCH better this time except that he kept looking at me to make sure I was noticing he was doing better. I think that was annoying his teacher. Dalton and I had fun in our little class too. He's a blast!

Wednesday was a fabulous day. It started off with breakfast where Dalton clutched his new Pez dispenser (portable potty training reward candy) in his hand:


And hung onto Mama with his foot:


We ran a few errands like stopping by E's school to pay his tuition (we save 10% by paying in advance and that's a lot with how much his tuition is). We also picked up a few things on hold from the 'brary and then stopped by the grocery store for some lunch items before driving down to Gramoo's for swimming!

It was about 95 degrees which is much more swimming-friendly for my boys. We had a nice time. We started off in the big pool. E opted for floaties instead of a life jacket:


I put Dalton in a life jacket at first but it just doesn't work for him (other than flipping him to his back the way it's designed to). So he went in the inflatable ring and actually enjoyed it and was able to be much more independent that way:


Easton is trying to run on the water like Dash from The Incredibles.

He can't. I told him that Jesus is the only person I've ever heard of to walk on water and that it was a miracle. He kept trying though.

See him being independent?


And Easton enjoyed the slide several times:




The brothers swimming towards each other:


It is so nice to be able to go to their pool for free!


As soon as they blew the "adult swim" whistle we hopped out...well, I couldn't hoist myself up on the side, I found. :( I had to go swim over and climb out at the ladder. Ha ha. But anyway, we made our way over to the baby pool at that point where Easton could happily give up his floaties in lieu of goggles:


And D opted for a seat-less inflatable ring:


They had fun and it was nice that it was so much warmer than our last swimming adventure.


That is, until Easton accidentally broke one of Gramoo's squirting pool toys. I told him he needed to tell her what had happened and that he was sorry but that she wouldn't be mad. However, he was really scared about it and started screaming at me and not listening and all that so he and I got out of the pool for a bit. We talked and talked and practiced what he could say. But, mean ol' mom that I am, I wouldn't let him back in the pool until he did what he was told which was to apologize for the accident. Finally he got up the courage to head over to Gramoo but didn't quite make it all the way and sat down to have a pout about it some more:




Gramoo wasn't being scary, she was being very friendly and welcoming and finally got him to come over and talk to her. It was no big deal at all, really. But I'm sorry, he needs to learn to do the right thing.

Anyway, he was allowed back in the pool at that point and terrorized his brother by trying to swim into the ring with him. I love this picture!


We did a bit more swimming:




But then it started getting overcast so we made a break for it. We had a big snack at Gramoo's and then headed for home.

The coolest part about the day is that although I had Dalton in a diaper for our errands and car driving, he didn't use it at all. In fact, he's started to be able to go on command when Bubba does...like, before leaving the house. So he'd go and then he'd stay dry. He went potty at Gramoo's house 3 times...twice because he said he had to and once because it was time to leave to drive home. He (and Easton) even fell asleep in the car and stayed dry till we got home where he then went potty again. I was so excited! Well, I don't know what might have happened in his swim diaper, of course, but he went before we left and then again when we came back so it's possible it went unused.

We went out to dinner last night and Easton had to go to the bathroom, Dalton piped up that he wanted to go too but Jason is pretty anti "field-trip-to-the-men's-room" and wouldn't take D with them. I think it was at that point that Dalton used his diaper. Because towards the end of our meal he said he had to go potty and I took him and while he went, I also noticed his diaper was wet for the first time all day. I think if he had been allowed to go potty with Daddy and Bubba then he might have been a 100% potty-goer for the day. He even went before they got in the shower at bedtime because it's always been a "rule" that Easton goes then (and now it's just a habit).

I'm so proud of him for going on big potties and for going in public places. Dare I say he's getting there??? He'll even do #2's when he needs to for now. I say "for now" because E had no problem with it at first but then regressed.

Anyway, he's been doing good with pottying again today. We went outside to eat our breakfast and Dalton's pants got wet--from the grass, though. So here he is:

How cute is that?

We went to Wal-Mart today and he wore a Pull Up over his underpants. It just lets me feel more comfortable while I gage his abilities and such. Plus I'm sure we wouldn't be allowed at Gramoo's without proper protection like that till he's for sure fully trained. ;) Anyway, he told me once at Wal-Mart that he needed to go potty--and he did--he's stayed dry so far again today. We got him some new Buzz and Woody Pull Ups while we were at the store and he's wearing one of those while he's napping--over his underpants. He's so excited about the Buzz and Woody part that we'll have to see if he'll even take it off when he wakes up> :)

Speaking of...there he is. I'm going to go get him. Catch you on the flip side!

No Bedrest for Now

So...it's 6:00 a.m. and I couldn't sleep anymore...although last night wasn't too bad or anything, I guess I was just done. I did fall asleep early so I still got a full night, just ended a tad earlier than normal.

Anyway, I'm down here by myself and happened to see that I had a voice mail from a missed call...at 9:45 last night. And yes, it was the doctor.

Despite her feeling the need to call me so late, my labs are fine. Or fine-er. Last week the protein in my 24 hour urine was 413. Yesterday it was 351...so, while still in the "preeclampsia range" (which starts at about 300), I at least went the right way to avoid bedrest...for now.

However, I know they're not done worrying about me and making me repeat such tests. But at least we've put it off for another week or two (I hope!). Believe me, it's not like we're completely in the clear here and will just skip right along to 09/09/09 or anything like that, unfortunately. But, unless something comes up with me: headache that won't go away, high blood pressure, etc, then we'll wait till my growth ultrasound and OB visit in two weeks before really worrying again.

So there ya go.