Loved Our "Boring" Night...

Last night was nothing special, but it’s the first time in a long time that I can remember us just chilling as a family.

The boys had haircuts, so John and I took them over to his sister’s to get that done. After that we rushed home and ate some dinner and John and Josh headed out to football practice. I immediately started getting the house picked up because the cleaners are coming today.

As I was putting away the laundry that Miss G had done, Ryan was practically on top of me! It was so annoying because every time I tried to move, he was there in my way. And he kept wanting to close the drawers that I had open! But I kept making myself step back and enjoy his little chatter and high-pitched squeals :) I ended up switching out the boys’ summer and winter clothes which desperately needed to be done.

After that was done we went down and started watching a movie, per Kylie’s request. She chose Shrek The Third, which I hadn’t seen yet, so that was nice. About ½ way through it John and Josh got back and somehow we all ended up in the playroom. John and the kids were playing Guitar Hero, Ryan was bowling, I was sitting playing with Colton, and at times Kylie and I both were doing gymnastics.

I kept looking around and trying really hard to enjoy those moments because I know how rare they are anymore. John and/or always seem to have some type of work to do around the house, or we have somewhere that we need to take the kids…it’s not often that we’re all in the same room at the same time anymore…and I know that it’s just going to get worse and more rare :( Part of the reason is that there just isn’t a lot of time in the evenings, so when the kids are in school we run out of time so quickly. Last night the kids didn’t get to bed until 10:00! But it was worth it :)

So I had fun last night, and I’m going to try super hard to make sure we have more of those evenings!

Another Busy Weekend...

What a weekend, let me tell you!

I got to leave work early on Friday thanks to our summer hours program at work. Since Miss G was watching the kids on Friday, I decided to have lunch with my friend Sarah before heading home. After a nice lunch with her I went home and wished my little boy a very happy 6th birthday!

In my head I had a whole plan of what we were going to do that afternoon, but the neighbor kids were over playing with my kids, so I didn’t want to be a meanie and send them home when everyone was having such a great time. So while Colton and Ryan were sleeping, I cleaned out my closet and got a couple of bags ready to take to Goodwill. As I’m finishing up, another one of the neighbor kids comes over to play.

I go down to check on the kids a little while later, and I see Joshie sleeping on the couch! Kylie said that while they were playing he sat on the couch and got super tired and just fell asleep! So she and the neighbor kids made a present for him while he was sleeping :) He was so tired that when I asked him if he still wanted to come and pick out his cupcakes he told me to go so that he could keep sleeping!

So my dad came over and watched the boys while Kylie and I headed into town to pick out some birthday cupcakes. We have a local cupcake shop that makes wonderful cupcakes and now also has divine chocolates! So we picked out some really great flavors of cupcakes and chocolates and headed home. Josh woke up shortly after we got back, and we asked him where he wanted to go to dinner and he said “McDonald’s” – what a surprise! I asked him what his second choice was and he said “Burger King!” We compromised with Wholly Joe’s – a Chicago hot dog/pizza place that is wonderful! Thankfully he loved the idea!

The only downside to the weekend was that it was also the weekend of our local festival, so that meant that John’s company had their normal booth there and John would be working there all Friday night and all day Saturday.

After dinner at Wholly Joe’s, we headed home and had cupcakes and Joshie opened his present from Kylie and Ryan. We had picked out Cars Monopoly, and he seemed to like it. So we all sat down and played a quick game before sending everyone to bed.

Saturday morning I got up and did my weekly 7 AM walk with the neighbor girls. I swear the 1 hour walk goes by way too quickly each week! After that I started cooking for the cookout that we were going to that night. John’s parents came and picked Joshie up because they were taking him and my nephew, whose birthday was that day, out shopping for their birthday presents. They gave each of them $100 to spend however they wanted to…and guess what Joshie got? GoGos…and batting gloves…and more GoGos :)

When John’s parents got back with the boys, Jody rocked Colton on the porch while I took Kylie and Josh to meet Miss G, who was taking them to her son KC’s birthday party. When I got back I sat on the porch with her and chatted while Colton peacefully slept in her arms. It was so relaxing! Dad was inside playing with Ryan, so I went in and made them lunch and sent Ryan over to my dad’s to take a nap with him.

When John’s parents left, I loaded Colton up and headed to the festival. I parked kind of far away and really enjoyed the walk into town with just Colton. He was content just riding in his stroller and the weather was gorgeous! We met John and ate some great “fair food” for lunch. Then Colton and I left to go pick out a birthday present and head home. Again, it was so nice just hanging out with Colton, especially when I was in the store and had him in his sling right up against me!

When we got home I finished up my cooking, Kylie and Joshie came home, and we all packed up and headed over to the neighbor’s for a cookout and to watch the fireworks later. It was a mix of neighbors and some of their other friends that I’ve met a few times since this was the 3rd annual cookout they’ve had. They best surprise for Kylie was when Brendan showed up :) He is her little boyfriend, and his brother plays on our neighbor’s baseball team, so they were invited, but we didn’t tell Kylie that he was coming :) She was so cute! All of the kids played really well together!

John arrived right before the fireworks started and as usual, our town had a great display! As soon as they were over I took Colton home to eat and put him to sleep and John and the kids followed shortly after.

Sunday morning was church and then John went golfing while I took the kids to a Build-a-Bear birthday party. Overall their behavior was really good and outside of constantly trying to keep my eye on Ryan, it was pretty easy. We finally left around 3:45 and headed home, where Colton and Ryan took naps and Kylie and Joshie played. When John got home from golfing he mowed the grass and we all played outside and I painted Kylie’s nails. I made a really good dinner using peas from the garden (I was supposed to also use parsley from the garden but I accidentally threw that away before I put it in the food :( ). We had tried to get the kids to bed early, but they didn’t actually get into bed until 8:30, and they crashed hard! Except for Ryan, because he had just woken up from a 3 hour nap at 7:00 :)

So a good and busy weekend. I keep saying I want to slow down, but I just don’t know how to do it. When we’re in the moment it doesn’t feel crazy busy or chaotic, but writing it all out it sounds like we don’t have time to breathe. Maybe I’ll get a chance to sit down next weekend :)

Happy 6th Birthday Joshie!!!

Dear Joshie,
Today you turned 6! I look at you and I can’t believe that my adorable baby boy (“baby Joshie”) has grown up into and adorable little boy. Every time I look at you I see a very cute and very smart boy and I feel so proud!

This past year you started Kindergarten and did so well in it! I was so proud all year at your ability to read and do math. I felt so proud every time Mrs. Roberts told us that you were one of the top readers in the class! I was expecting you to not enjoy school, but you really liked it and that made me so happy!

You had another year of football (2 seasons) and an all-star tournament last summer. You really like football and I have loved seeing you get so much better this year! You were the best one on your team this spring and I was always so proud!

You went through the silly band phase and are now on to the GoGo phase :) You are obsessed with these little things and they are the first thing out of your mouth when people ask you what you want for your birthday.

I just talked to you on the phone and asked you where you want to eat for your birthday and you had me look up what toys McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King were offering :) You are so simple to please!

Cars 2 opens today and all you wanted for your birthday party was to have a sleepover with some friends and go and see that movie. Since Daddy is working Powell Fest this whole weekend, we will be doing just that next Friday!

I love you so much and I can’t wait to watch you grow up even more this next year! Although, I do wish you would stay a little guy, and when I told you I was going to stop feeding you so you would stay little, you looked up at me and very matter-of-factly told me that you would die if I stopped feeding you. So I conceded that I guess I would have to keep feeding you :)

I hope you have a very wonderful 6th birthday!

Love,
Mommy

Issues I'm Dealing With...

I always seem to post about the happy things going on at home, so here is a post on the struggles that we’re having with each of the kids:

Ryan – This little guy is causing us the most headaches right now! John and I joke that had we stopped at two kids, our lives would be so simple due to the sole fact that Kylie and Josh do not have a history of challenging us and pushing our buttons. This is Ryan’s specialty. I have never met such a stubborn 2 year-old in my life! I swear the first word out of his mouth no matter what you tell him to do is “no.” BUT…he is also the most comical and affectionate and I could sit and watch him for hours. I believe God gave him this side of his personality so that we wouldn’t kill him :)

Right now he’s battling us on potty training. After 1 ½ weeks at this, he has yet to tell us he needs to go potty. He does a pretty good job of holding it, and we just need to tell him to go potty every hour or so, otherwise he will go in his pants. And pooping is a completely different story! Our nanny will get him to poop on the potty, but he refuses with John and me. We have thrown away more shorts and underwear this past week than I care to admit (there’s no way I’m keeping those nasty things). And I know (call it mother’s instinct, knowing my child, whatever) that he is playing a mind game with us. I can tell he is perfectly capable of going – when I sit with him in the bathroom and tell him to try he won’t, because he knows he will go (he has “tried” before when he hasn’t had to go, that’s why I know he knows what I want him to do). When I tell people about our potty training issues their first response is that he’s young, and he’s busy and maybe he’s not ready and blah-blah-blah. I would be the first to admit that if I even for a nanosecond thought it was true. But again, I know my little blondie, and I know that this is yet another area he has found where he is trying to beat us…and I’m afraid he’s getting very close :(

Josh – Both Kylie and Joshie went through a period of time, after they had learned to talk pretty well, of stuttering. When Kylie did it I absolutely panicked, especially since she was always our phenomenal talker. But the doctor assured me that all kids do this and it happens because their brains are going faster than their little mouths can spit the words out. Of course this was true and Kylie came out of it, as did Josh…the first time.

Josh then started the stuttering back up. Right after I had Colton I noticed that it had gotten really bad, so at one of Colton’s check-ups I asked the doctor if this was still normal or if I should have him evaluated. She told me at his age it was time to have him looked at. So John and I took him to a speech center and came out of there with a recommendation of ½ hour therapy once a week. I started him up and each week during the rest of my maternity leave I would take him to speech therapy. While his therapist was really nice, she never got him talking about something that excited him in order to bring out the stuttering. See, Josh mainly only stutters when he’s really excited about something, so when you’re just talking to him, you wouldn’t hear it. When my maternity leave ended we went on the waiting list for an evening appointment – and I still haven’t heard anything from them! But at $67 per session (not covered by insurance), I really didn’t miss those therapy sessions. John and I still aren’t convinced that he’s still developing, and that he’ll grow out of this, especially since I believe only 1% of the population stutters. And I never felt like I could trust the speech evaluators...I always felt like even if he was fine they would have told me to keep bringing him so that they could make more money. And I don’t know if I’m becoming desensitized to it or whether he is truly getting better, but I don’t notice it near as much as I used to (I’ve also had people comment that they think it’s getting better as well). Thankfully it has not affected his schoolwork in any way and his friends don’t seem to notice it…yet.

The other issue we’re dealing with in Joshie is his constant whining. The kid is about to turn 6 and he whines at everything! And he cries a lot more than any other little boy I’ve met. I’m learning to accept that he is a lot more sensitive than other kids, but he still needs to learn better ways of dealing with disappointment than crying…at some point kids are really going to start making fun of him! And we’re trying really hard to deal with the whining. I swear even something as simple as “please take out the recycling” starts a huge whine fest.

Kylie – Kylie has decided to start doing something that even I, in all of my childrearing knowledge/experience/research have no idea how to deal with…pulling out her eyelashes. That’s right, at one point a month ago she had no top eyelashes because she had pulled them all out. I have asked her why she does it and she says that she always feels like she has something in her eyes. I have tried rewards, I have tried punishments, and I have tried scaring her by telling her that at some point they won’t grow back. Nothing works. Thankfully, right now, she’s doing better and about ½ of them have grown back. I asked the doctor about it and she recommended that she see a psychologist. While I have no problem with that, I’m assuming that my insurance is not going to cover that, and if this is a problem that we can control, I would rather not spend hundreds of dollars for her to talk to someone at such a young age.

Colton – this little stinker still wakes up twice a night!!! He’s killing me! Thankfully he’s such a good baby when he’s awake that it’s manageable, but I’m one tired momma!

So all of these issues happening at the same time has really taken its toll on me. There are many days that I feel like a failure as a mother, and there are times, briefly, when I wonder if it’s all worth it. My heart and head obviously knows that it is, but my body is tired, and desperately trying to keep up with everything. And I know this is just a season in our lives, and one day I will hopefully look back on this and laugh because we all came out fine on the other side of it, but for right now I’m not laughing, I’m stressing and I’m tired.

A Little Trip to Louisville...

This past weekend was an amazing little adventure for our family of 6 :)

We and our neighbors planned to take the kids down to Louisville to go to the Louisville Slugger museum. We planned this a couple of weeks ago and did not tell any of the kids anything! So Thursday, as soon as we got home from work, we packed up the car and told the kids we were going on a trip. We picked Kylie up from gymnastics and I handed her some clothes to change out of her leotard into and she gave me a puzzled look. In her little mind she thought we were just going out to dinner! But when she got in the car, her brothers quickly filled her in :) We then went through the drive-thru at Wendy’s and the timing was perfect enough that our neighbors were in line in front of us. Their order was taking a long time and John and I kept saying things like “man, these people in front of us are taking too long, this is ridiculous!” Then when we finally both got through, we pulled up next to them in a parking spot. It took the kids about two minutes, but they finally looked over and Kylie goes “that’s Brett and Kim next to us.” They thought this was just a weird coincidence! So Kimmy comes over to the window and we tell both sets of kids that we are all going somewhere together – but we still won’t tell them where!

The drive down went very smoothly. All of the kids except for Kylie slept at some point, and we did have to stop to feed Colton once. I had bought them some new movies for the trip (thank goodness for the $5 bin at Wal-Mart :) ) and before we knew it we were there. We got in around 10:30 and the kids were wired once we got inside. I pricelined a hotel, so we were staying at a local hotel downtown that had a lot of character to it. We also got luck and got an end room that had a lot of space! The kids slept great and even Colton slept really well in the porta-crib.

The next morning we got up and went down to breakfast…all 10 of us! This was the worst part of the whole trip…the food was just OK and the service was not that great, and our bill, for just OUR family, was $90!!! I’ve never been so upset and sick to my stomach over a bill in my life! John just kept telling me that we got such a great deal on the room and to put it past me, but it still to this day makes me so mad!

After breakfast we headed to the museum. We walked in and saw the giant glove with a ball in it and immediately the kids started playing on it. They also hit balls in the batting cages. After that, we went and placed our bat orders (All of the kids, except for Colton, got bats with their names and the date on them). After that we went on the factory tour and it was so interesting hearing and seeing how the bats are made! After the tour we went through the exhibits and then to the gift shop. After we were done with the museum, we walked through downtown a little bit and found a place to eat.

We ended up heading back around 3:30 and we hit some really nasty storms along the way. The first time we pulled over, only to realize that we had to drive right back into it because it was following our highway. So we pushed through and finally came out on the other side. It was the scariest car ride I’ve had in a long time!

The kids really had a great time down in Louisville (even Kylie!). It definitely showed John and I that we could actually travel with our 500 kids, and that the kids really like surprises. We had so much fun doing that that we’re in the process of planning another surprise getaway right now :)

Colton Turns 5 Months...

Colton turned 5 months on Saturday. 5 months…where on earth has the time gone??? He’s such a good baby – he really doesn’t cry unless he’s hungry, tired, and sometimes when he needs changed :) He sits out in the stroller with us when we’re outside in the evenings and on the weekends. He plays with his crinkly book and puts his little feet up on the tray. When we lay him down on the ground he immediately rolls over and then gets mad because he doesn’t want to be on his belly (silly nut!).

His sleep sucks right now…he gets up twice at night and I’m one tired momma! But he’s so adorable, and he wakes up in the morning so happy! And his brothers and sister love him so much! I’m so thankful for this adorable little guy!!!

Potty Training...Again!

We decided to potty train Ryan (for good) on Saturday. The night before we realized that we didn’t have anything going on Saturday and it would be a great day to give it yet another go. So we woke up and put him in underwear. The nice thing was that it was warm out, so he could run around (in his undershirt and underwear only :) ) and we didn’t have to worry about him having accidents on the carpet.

We brought the little potty out and set it up in the garage and John, the kids and I cleaned the garage out while constantly asking Ryan if he needed to go potty. He did so well going in the potty and getting his emmies (M&Ms). When we were done cleaning, we took him inside and we took showers. Ryan took one with John and then I took mine. While I was in the shower, John looked over at Ryan and saw him in our closet looking guilty! That stinker had peed on my carpet and pooped in his underwear! We were so mad! We got everything cleaned up and after a few minutes Ryan looked up at me and said “sorry Mommy.” I feel like he got it, but who knows! The rest of the day went great! And when we had to run an errand, we put the big plastic underwear-things over his normal Thomas underwear and he was still dry when we got back!

Sunday we went to church and he stayed dry! We went to a nursing home for the kids to sing and he stayed dry! We went to a park for lunch and he started to go but stopped and went in the potty! Then the rest of the day yesterday he did great…including when we went to the driving range and out to dinner!

He’s still in a pull-up when he sleeps, and he has not yet pooped on the potty, but I’m still calling this a success! If we can eliminate him wearing diapers most of the time, I will be one happy momma!!!

Last Day of School...

It is official, I have a 3rd grader and a 1st grader on my hands :) Tuesday, June 7th, was the kids’ last day of school. Last day of school means parties, water balloons, and the customary “can my friend come over after school and spend the night since it’s not a school night?”

John and I took Ryan over (Colton stayed back with Miss Gee) and started at Kylie’s party since that’s the one that started first. We watched them do balloon races, limbo, and get wet from the water balloons. We went and checked on Josh, who was still eating lunch, and then back to Kylie’s party.

When it was time for Josh’s party, we headed down there (their classrooms were on opposite sides of the building). It’s so funny the difference between a Kindergarten party and a second grade party. For Kylie’s, only about ½ of the parents were there, but for Josh’s, every parent was there! His room was packed where Kylie’s was definitely more comfortable. Kylie’s party was so laid back whereas Josh’s constantly had activities going on. It’s definitely fair to say that parents get “older and wiser” when it comes to class parties as the years go by!

We went back to Kylie’s party and finished up there and took her and Rachel (her BFF who was spending the night at our house) back to Josh’s party. By this time his class was outside doing the water balloon thing. Poor little guy got hurt and John thought it would make him feel better if he got me wet with a water balloon :) As Josh’s class was heading back in, I got to see the 5th grade send-off. Parents and students line the hallways and cheer as the 5th graders run through for the last time (our middle school is 6th, 7th and 8th grades). I definitely had tears in my eyes as they did this, knowing that in just a few short years that would be my little girl…the time has gone by too fast as it is.

So Josh and I gathered everything up and said “good-bye” to both of his teachers (his “real” teacher had gone on maternity leave back in March but was back for the party). We went and picked up our neighbor who was going to come over and play with Josh the rest of the afternoon, and headed home. As I walked the halls, I told John that we would blink and it would be the first day of school again before we knew it.

That afternoon all the kids played together. Unfortunately we got a pretty bad storm, so they were stuck inside (I think I was more bummed about this than they were). But on the upside, the kids got to see hail for the first time, and it was pretty big!

That night, after the neighbor boys had gone home, we headed out to McDonald’s and then to Rita’s. We figured it was a great way to end the last day of school :) Then John put the tent up in our loft and the girls “camped out.” They had colored grass and put it up against the walls and put “lily pads” on the floor. It’s funny because they actually ended up sleeping in the bed :)

So another year done, and most of me is so glad! It will be so nice not having to worry about homework and getting to bed early, and checking folders each night and studying for spelling tests! But of course, I’m also sad that my babies are growing up :(




Kylie with her teacher, who she loved, and is super excited because she gets to have her again next year!

Football in the Shoe...

What a weekend!

Friday, John and I took off work, as we usually do at this time, and headed to the Memorial Tournament. This year was super nice because our neighbors and good friends went with us too! We got there around 12:00, went to the house on the 18th that we’re lucky enough to go to each year, and sat at a table for a good chunk of the day! I drank a bunch of vodka/lemonades and ate some good food! Some of our other friends were there as well and for yet another year, we had an awesome day!

That evening we came home and decided to go to a local hot dog place with those same friends and all the kids. We had a great dinner! Then we headed over to the mall because Kimmy and I were going to go shopping, but John ended up getting a migraine, so we headed home shortly after we got there.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early and headed to the Horseshoe (the stadium the Ohio State Buckeyes play in). It was the day of Joshie’s flag football tournament! Our first game was at 9:00 AM and the weather was gorgeous! The Saints won and the boys had a ton of fun! We headed out to the parking lot where one of the families had set up a tailgating tent with tons of food for everyone! It was so nice! After that we got on the bus and headed to the second game, which was at some fields down the street. By this time it was getting really hot, but thankfully, all of the kids (including Ryan and Colton) didn’t complain at all. The boys ended up losing their second game, and to be honest, I wasn’t that sad…by now it was 1:00 and we were exhausted!

So we went home and John, Ryan and Colton took naps while I took the other kids out to the waterslide that our neighbors had set up. I hung out with everyone for a few hours and then my dad and I went to get the plants for the vegetable garden. When we got back, Kimmy and I headed to the mall to do the shopping that we didn’t get to do the night before. After shopping, she and I had dinner at a pub at the mall and sat outside and had a really nice time. It was great to not have to worry about the kids, or even our husbands for a few hours :)

Sunday we went to church and then to the mall with our house church group so that the kids could play in the play area and we could discuss the future of house church for the summer. After that I took Kylie into Justice and got her some fun summer clothes. After we left the mall we went on a mission looking for Sharpies for Josh, and not just any Sharpies, “little ones, in gold and silver.” We went to a couple of different places, until he finally had to settle on little ones in red and green and black and big silver and gold ones.

After we found the Sharpies, all of the kids fell asleep in the car, so we drove around and looked at some big, gorgeous houses that John had seen on google maps :) The houses were really big and really neat to look at.

When we got home we cleaned up and then got to work on the garden. John tilled while I spread dirt. We realized that we need a ton more dirt, so the garden will have to wait to be finished until Tuesday :( Then we went in to eat dinner and relax before bedtime.

I’m excited about this week because Tuesday is the kids’ last day of school, so I’m taking a ½ day and then I’m off Friday because we’re taking the kids on a surprise trip down to Louisville to see the Louisville Slugger museum with our neighbors.

Memorial Day Weekend 2011...

Memorial Day Weekend!

It was a fabulous weekend…relaxing for the most part and full of great warmth and SUNSHINE! After the rainy weeks we’ve had it was wonderful to see!

Friday night we loaded up our kids and Kylie’s BFF and headed to CiCi’s pizza. I couldn’t believe that we were able to feed all of us for $27!! It was such a cheap and good meal! We all came home and crashed into bed as it was a pretty late dinner.

Saturday morning I got up to go walking with my neighbor. Getting up was no small feat as Colton had been up SCREAMING at various points throughout the night. We don’t know what was wrong with him, but he had done it the night before. It was horrible because nothing would calm him, and I believed it was reflux or tummy issues because he kept stiffening up and arching his back. But the walk felt great and as always it was great to catch up with Kimmy. When I got home, John and Josh headed off to football practice. After that we hung out outside and then Kylie and I went to see Aunt Sarah to get our hair done. After our hair appointments, we hung out outside some more with our neighbors and the kids got out the big waterslide. We all decided to go to dinner together and headed to El Vaquero’s for some strawberry margaritas :) Colton fell asleep at the beginning of the meal, so it was a wonderful dinner out on the patio. The kids were all really good, as was the food!

Sunday morning we went to church and then headed over to my niece’s house for her 4th birthday party. We got a great picture of the grandparents with all eight of their grandchildren, and all of the kids played in the little pool. After a few hours there we headed home to get the younger kids a nap and give John’s parents the computer they ordered. As soon as Ryan and Colton woke up we headed out to the graduation party of our old babysitter’s daughter. It was fun reminiscing back to how Josh and Kylie were when they went there every day. We also learned (the hard way) that Colton does not want to fall asleep in his carrier in the car. If he is really tired, he will scream and scream until you get him out and either hold him or lay him in his bed. He’s like that with strollers too…he just won’t fall asleep!

Monday morning we woke up and headed to our local Memorial Day parade. We’re usually in Charlotte for Memorial Day, so we’ve never been to the parade before. We sat next to our neighbors and were hot and miserable the whole time, but enjoyed it :) It was a neat parade, and when it was over, we took the kids to get ice cream. After that we headed to the grocery store to pick up some items for a cookout later that day with the neighbors and then home to get the waterslide out!

We set up both waterslides (ours and our neighbor’s), a table full of snacks, and our chairs and tried not to move all afternoon. Colton went down for a very long nap, and Ryan took a long nap as well, so I was really able to relax and enjoy myself. It got so hot (high in the mid-90’s) that Kimmy and I actually went down the waterslide a few times! When Ryan woke up he had a blast playing in the water and going down the slide too. When Colton woke up, I brought him outside and had him in the stroller, and then his Bumbo chair (that was so nicely given to us by John’s sister Jamie), and then finally laid him out on the towel with me (sunscreened of course). I was talking to the girls when all of a sudden I looked down and he had fallen asleep! No swaddle, no crying, nothing! So I picked him up and moved him to the towel laying between the stroller and a chair (so that I could drape a towel over him) and he didn’t flinch! He had a nice second nap out there!

We cooked up some food (which was the first solid meal that we had had that day…what a great mom I am :) ), and had a great dinner with some neighbors. After that it was clean-up time and bath time :)

It was a wonderful weekend. I got a lot of good sun and we all had a lot of fun together.