July 4th and Beyond.

We're on our way to South Haven, Michigan in a few days, so I knew I needed to update the website before we leave. We spent our July 4th in Three Springs with Kris's family for the wonderful Rumble in the Pasture. As always, Kevin outdid last year and put on a phenomenal fireworks display. The kids all had a lot of fun playing together and getting ride on the uncles/grandpas new BMX car.

At home, we made it out to the zoo last week for a short visit. The kids are excited to go back and have been studying the map for the next time.

Monday, Ryan went shopping with my mom and Nick was sleeping, so Emma and I were playing outside. I was trying to get pictures of her swinging on the tire swing we have, but she fell off right before I got the camera and wouldn't go back on it. So instead she watered the flowers and trees.

Nick news: On July 4th, Nick officially turned over from back to belly. Now he is rolling all over and keeping himself really busy. We laid off the baby food for a week because he was spitting everything out. But we started back today and he did a lot better. Green beans, applesauce and cereal are on his menu and that's about it. I guess that's what happens with third children.

Two weeks ago, Ryan spent the week at my parents house. He had a great time while he was there. They kept him very busy - taking him to the spray park, the Fish Fly Festival, the movies, etc. He was exhausted by the time he got home (a day late due to a flat tire on my dad's car). The picture above is Emma talking to Ryan on Skype. When we met up to get Ryan back, they sat in the booth whispering "I missed you" to each other for several minutes. The other pic is of Nick finally starting to 'play' on his belly.

While he was gone, I was making the most of the time I had with only two kids. Especially anything I could do with Emma at the gym while putting Nick in daycare (I feel sorry for Nick but he can't do anything yet!). So we went to the pool several times, gymnastics class and to the museum. We had a great week, even with Daddy out of town.

Nick loves playing with his feet, so I wanted to get some pictures of him doing it. And Emma just couldn't help joining him (she still loves playing with her feet).

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Over the last week, I haven't gotten some unusual pictures of my kids sleeping and wanted to share. The first is Emma sleeping naked at naptime. She said it was very comfortable and luckily did not have an accident. The second is Ryan sleeping in the hallway outside his room. He kept wanting us to come upstairs again to tuck him in and just fell asleep waiting. The third picture is just of Nick sleeping. I was hoping he would flip over and sleep on his belly for the first time, but no. And the fourth one I took tonight. Kris falls asleep with Emma quite often and I have to go wake him up and this is what I found tonight!

Keeping Busy This Week

This week, we (read I) decided to stay home to attempt at potty training Emma. I assumed that by staying home, we would reduce accidents by always being near the potty. Well that was true, but we still had our share of them. She is doing great though. Today, was our first trip out and she stayed dry and told me when she had to go potty. All of the kids enjoyed cuddling in Emma's bed one morning. Emma has become proficient at taking her clothes off - that's why she's naked in the pic. She's also getting good at getting dressed - funny since Ryan would still let us dress him if we would!

Anyway, because we were staying home, I had to get creative to keep everyone busy. On an idea that a friend used, we started making a daily schedule. The kids liked that they could help decide what we were doing each day and I liked being able to tell them to look at the schedule to see what we were doing next. Also, no boredom. One day we painted outside, which the kids loved! They have asked to do it again - every day! They painted in their underwear to reduce mess (but Ryan didn't understand why I didn't want him running around to the front of the house).

We also started Nick on some oatmeal this week. He's enjoying it more and swallowing more each day, but still can't say he's 'eating it up'. We are still working on getting Nick on a more regimented nap schedule. He's still having trouble sleeping in his crib and prefers the swing. But it's getting better. All three of them fit in the bath this week!

New Things & Last Day of School

Nick is getting bigger by the day. He recently moved into 9 month clothes (where of course we had no summer clothes). We have done a few new things with him in the past few weeks. We tried a bottle which he didn't have too much trouble with. We have also gave him a sippy cup of water, which he disliked - probably because of the water - but we'll keep trying. He has started to use the bath seat in the bathtub. Emma and Ryan love that they can all bathe together! It's a tight squeeze but they manage.

Emma is also moving on up - to a bigger size that is. She is firmly in 3t clothing. She is also trying out the potty. For the past few weeks, we have been using pullups to get her started on the whole process. Over the weekend, she asked to start wearing underwear. She did good over the weekend. So today, was the first full out potty day. She had 4 accidents. I knew from Ryan that she would need some accidents to understand the holding it for longer than 20 minutes concept. That took Ryan about a day. Funny to think we just did this with Ryan last summer. Wow, the difference between girls and boys. Anyway, in all her accidents she did come up and say she had to go potty - just a little too late.

As for Ryan, he finished his last year of preschool. He thoroughly enjoyed his class and teachers and will miss them all. For his last day, he had a park playdate with lunch. They also walked over to visit the fire and police stations. He had a great time, especially sitting in the big fire truck. We showed him the ambulance that took him to the hospital when he was 2, but he was rather frightened by it. He said he was afraid they were going to take him back to the hospital if he got in! So now he's off to kindergarten. He's pretty excited by it! Me, I'm excited by it too, when does school start again? The prospect of entertaining all three of them all summer is exhausting!

Maifest & Memorial Day

Kris and I took the kids to the Maifest in Covington a few weeks ago. Ryan and Emma love riding the rides. Kris and I enjoy the wonderful food. And Nick could have cared less. It was a lot of fun though. Here are some pictures from it. I didn't get a pic of Ryan and Kris on the pirate ship - the one big ride Ryan went on - they both loved it!

Kris took Ryan and Emma to PA for the Three Spring Carnival over Memorial Day. I stayed home with Nick. We both had a great weekend. Sorry - we have no pictures of that weekend. But we can say with certainty that it was a wonderful break for all.

Playing, playing and playing

The kids have been doing a lot of playing around here. From Nick with his new sitting toy and exersaucer to the older two with the sprinkler and the pool. Here are a few pictures capturing those fun times.