Pictures

I still don't have much time to write, but thought I would put a few new pictures on for you all to see!



This picture was taken after baths one night. Carole just loves bathtime with her daddy!






Here we have Andrew sitting with his Speech Language Pathologist who works with him once a week. He always looks forward to her coming.






This last picture is of Carole SITTING UP playing with her toys. She still tips occasionally (hence the boppy pillow around her) but she is getting better!

New pictures

Sorry, I don't have much time to write, but I thought I would share these pictures! Enjoy!

Fun Pictures

One day Carole lay on the floor fascinated by the big Tigger stuffed animal. She rolled around and played with him for a good half hour!

I thought this picture turned out so cute of Andrew and Carole laying next to each other after their bath one night.

Andrew Riding Rides

On Labor Day weekend, we took Andrew to the local festivities. It was the first time in his life that he got to ride carnival rides. He thought it was pretty cool! His favorite was when he got to be the engineer of the train. Everytime a ride would end he would shot "Agin!" Translation: Again!

While big brother rode rides Carole watched safely from her stroller. She loved being out and about! I forgot to take a picture of her that day! :)

Carole and her Daddy

Carole loves to spend time with her Daddy. When she sees him enter the room, her face just lights up with smiles! He always brings a smile to her face. She especially likes it when he hums "Pop goes the Weasel" to her. That always makes her stop crying!

Potty Training Story

We have been trying to potty train Andrew for a little over a month now. He was doing pretty good getting the number 2's in the potty. About a week ago he started to regress. He would do it in his pants everyday at nap time. He knew he wasn't supposed to because he says that poo goes in the potty not his pants.

Well, one day after a meal Phil asked Andrew if he had to go. He said no. Phil told him to tell us if he had to go. He said, "Kay, Dad!" He then ran off to play with Carole in the kitchen. He pushed her around in her walker and played with her for a good 2o minutes. All of a sudden he came running out of the kitchen and ran towards the bathroom. While he was running he was yelling, "Da, Da, butt ow now!!!" Sure enough, he had to go! Phil and I were so shocked that he actually told us he had to go!

More pictures

I love Carole's bright eyes and just had to share this picture! Can you notice that her cheeks are starting to fill out? For those of you who don't know, Carole had not gained any weight for over a month. We are now adding a fortifier to her milk and she is starting to gain!






This picture is a pretty typical scene in our house. Andrew loves to play next to Carole. In this picture I think he is trying to "read" to her. I don't think she was listening! :)

On the go!

This is one of my favorite pictures of Carole. She now gets to where she wants to go by rolling. She started out near the living room and ended up under the dining room table. She loves to be mobile. She also gets very mad when she tries to crawl and is not successful. Rolling around keeps her mobile but she cannot control her rolls to get to her desired destination.

Fun Pictures

Here is the King and Queen on their thrones!















Carole posing on her throne.















Here is Carole doing her favorite thing, eating! She sees anyone holding a bowl and she goes nuts. I don't think she will ever starve! We like to call her Miss Piggy.







Here is Andrew and Phil on a rainy day. We finally got some rain. Andrew has rarely seen rain in his short life. He thought it was pretty cool to go stand in it.

Tuesday and Wednesday's Happenings

Tuesday...

I can't really remember what we did yesterday. I do know that Mandy watched Andrew while I made a quick trip to the WIC office to pick up Carole's milk fortifier. We let the kids play a bit while Mandy and I stamped some cards. Then it was naptime. After Mandy left I did some cleaning around the kitchen. Phil was at the church all day writing his sermon. We went fo ra wagon ride last night just before dark. Andrew kept Carole happy as you can see from the picture. Well, maybe not from the picture... Andrew does not like to have his picture taken! That is about all I can remember about Tuesday. I don't even remember any funny stories. Sorry.

Today, Wednesday...

Phil worked at the church in the morning and the kids and I visited Laura Nelson and her kids. Andrew and Christopher are finally playing good together and Andrew did not want to come home. The picture is of Ciara (4 years old) holding Carole. Doesn't it look like Carole is getting chubbier?

Around noon Phil came home for lunch and stayed home the rest of the day. When I got both of the kids down for naps, I went over to Mandy's to help her pack up some of their stuff as they will be moving in 3 weeks. I told Phil to call me if Carole woke up before 3:30pm. He called after Carole had been asleep for 45 minutes. The poor guy, he said she wouldn't burp for him (that is why she usually wakes up early) and she wouldn't take her pacifier and go back to sleep. So I quickly came home to my crying baby. I picked her up, she burped a loud thunderous burp, and she went right back to sleep. Poor Phil. I know he tried, but sometimes Carole can be a stinker. I then went back to Mandy's for another hour. We got a lot packed. We packed a lot of dishes and stuff that she won't need for the next 3 weeks.

Phil is now at the prayer meeting and I am home with the kids. Andrew is entertaining Carole. She was getting crabby in her exersaucer while Andrew was sitting on the potty after supper. Once he had done his business and came out to play, she has been as happy as a lark!

Monday's Happenings

Sorry it took me so long to write!

Well, for those of you who don't know, Carole had her doctor's appointment on Monday. We found out that she has finally gained weight! She gained a whole pound and she now weighs 14lbs. 1oz. Phil and I thought she was feeling heavier. Her legs even look chunkier to me.

While we were in town, we let Andrew ride the "Bob the Builder" truck at Wal-Mart. He was a good boy all day long in town so he deserved a special treat. It was a long day for us all because we had to leave our van at the dealer to have it worked on. So we used a loaner vehicle and shopped around town from 12 noon to 5pm. We got Andrew some new pants (he had a growth spurt this summer and all his other pants were too short) and Carole a new dress to wear for her 6 month pictures next week. We also had to shop around for a new computer monitor because ours was starting to act up. After we picked up our van we had to still get groceries. We didn't get home til late. Both kids were really good all day!! We had a fun time together.

Funny story...
While we were in K-Mart, Phil took Carole in one cart and I took Andrew in another to shop for pants for him. I picked out several different kinds and sizes and took him into the fitting room. He was hysterical! He was facsinated seeing himself in the big mirror and couldn't stop laughing at himself. He just giggled and giggled. I had a really hard time trying the pants on him, but we finally got it accomplished. I guess we should just buy a huge mirror and Andrew can entertain himself for hours on end! :)

Lazy Saturday

Today has been a lazy day! We all just woke up from a 2 hour nap. Well, Phil didn't nap, but the rest of us did. Carole slept 2 hours and 40 minutes and I finally had to wake her up to eat. I guess she must have needed the extra rest.

Sorry I didn't post anything yesterday. I think Carole had a bug of some sort because she was throwing up every bottle I gave her. The only thing I could get to stay down in her was her cereal. She LOVES her cereal! When she sees her bowl and spoon she goes crazy!

Today I was feeding Andrew his lunch. He was having Beefaroni in a bowl. She was walking around the kitchen in her walker and noticed that Andrew had a bowl and spoon so she started to pant and make moaning noises. It wasn't time for her to eat, so I had to remove her from the kitchen so she couldn't see that Andrew was eating!

Andrew is learning many new words finally! Yesterday he said "Carole" for the first time. It sounded more like "Dardole" but at least he tried. As many of you know this is a huge accomplishment for him since in the past all he would call her is "baby."

Well, I know this isn't much of an update, but I've got to go tend to my kids. Sorry, there are no new pictures today. :(

Hug Your Mother

This picture was also taken last night. It was a very special moment for me. To get Andrew to hug his mother willingly for the camera is very rare. It is also very rare for him to sit still that long!

Playing Together

As of this week, Carole is finally enjoying being on her tummy. She loves to be down where all the action is. She is trying to crawl, but when she gets up on her knees she her arms collapse. She hasn't figured out how to get all of her limbs to work at the same time. It'll come!

These pictures were taken last night. Andrew likes to show her all of his toys and she loves to watch!

Emma's Birthday

Today we made the half hour trek to Emma's house for her birthday party. Andrew was so excited! Last night we caught him getting out of bed and I told him that if he didn't stay in bed and go to sleep he couldn't go to Emma's for her party. He went right to sleep after that! Phil asked me if I was really going to keep him home if he got up. I told him I didn't think I would have to worry about that because going to Emma's is a high priority for him.

The party was a mom and kid playdate. There were six kids, three babies, and 5 mommies present. It was hilarious to sit back and watch the 6 kids interact with each other. Andrew had to play dollies and push them around in a stroller. He actually RACED the stroller around the housewith the girls screaming hot on his tail! We had macaroni and cheese and hotdogs for lunch. I should say the kids did. Us mommies had egg salad sandwhiches and pasta salad.

As you can see from the picture, Gracie and Emma loved playing with Carole. Carole enjoyed all that attention. Her brother gives her attention at home, but it is not exactly GENTLE if you know what I mean.

Well, that is all I have time to write. Carole is whining for Mommy attention!

Pictures with Mommy

These pictures were taken last night before the kid's bedtime. Andrew was embarrassed to kiss his mommy for the camera. Carole loved posing for Daddy. She is such a happy girl now!

Naptime

These pictures were taken at naptime today. Carole has to have her blanket touching her face. She won't sleep without it. Andrew looks like he was posing for this shot, but he really is asleep. He has to have his big blankie covering him up. His old ratty blanket is on his tummy in this picture (which is full of huge holes now). Aren't they so peaceful? When they are both sleeping at the same time, it is free time for me!!! Yeah!!!!!!

Sleeping Weird

We have to check on Andrew a lot when we first put him to bed because he gets out a lot. One of the last times we checked on him we found him sound asleep in this strange position. Is that even comfortable?

Funny Story

Funny story...
I was trying to put Andrew down for his nap and discovered Buster, our 12 yr. old cat, under the spare bed in his room. I told Andrew to crawl under there and get the cat out. He crawled under there and layed down with the cat. He wasn't about to get the cat out because he knew he would have to take his nap as soon as the cat left. He tried to lay on the cat and then Buster bit him. Out came Andrew saying, "Momma, ow cat bite." Needless to say I had to chase the cat out with a broom and Andrew had to take a nap. Lately he has been pretty good about stalling when it is nap or bed time. They learn young!

New to Blogging

I am new to blogging, but I thought this would be a good place to keep family up to date on what's happening in SD.

As of yesterday, Carole figured out how to walk in her walker. She loves being on the go. Her favorite thing to do is to walk up to Andrew' high chair and watch him eat. She loves her big brother and really enjoys it when he gives her wild walker rides.

Today Andrew had quite a melt down. We are in the midst of potty training him and as he was sitting on the potty this morning Phil gave him his vitamin that was forgotten at breakfast. We don't know exactly how it happened, but the vitamin fell in the toilet. Andrew screamed and cried that he wanted it back. Phil got him a new one and that wasn't good enough. He wanted the one that fell in with his "hot dogs." Of course we weren't giving in to this tantrum so the vitamin got flushed. After crying about it for a good 20 minutes, he finally forgot about it when Elmo came on TV.

Andrew sure is trying us lately. Last week he finally figured out how to climb out of his crib so Phil converted it to the toddler bed. Now we are having a battle about keeping him IN bed. For the most part he is a very good boy and follows directions. He really likes it when Mommy gives him jobs to do.

Today Phil is at the church office working on his sermon. I just got Carole down for her morning nap and Andrew is watching TV. I plan on taking down the living room and dining room curtains today and washing them. Now that Carole isn't such a high maintenance baby I have been able to get my house back to order. This afternoon after naps we are all dressing up and getting our family picture taken at the local credit union. We get a free 8x10 picture taken every other year.