Booger Art

Oh the joys of boys. I was making Blake's bed the other day when I discovered an entire collection of boogers on his wall right next to his pillow. I was obviously repulsed and called Blake in to explain this new found collection. The conversation went like this:
Mom: What is this?
B: Boogers from my nose
Mom: Why would you put them on your wall
B: Well, what else am I supposed to do with them?
Mom: Um, use a tissue in the bathroom!!
B: Oh, ok.
Just like that, he wasn't phased by my blatant disgust, and really found nothing wrong with picking and wiping for future admiration. Seriously, boys are so gross, and I know it is only going to get worse ;) What am I going to do with 2 smelly teenage boys? It is going to be so fun!

Hapy Birthday Lauren

Happy 2nd Birthday to our adorable God daughter, Lauren Ashely.

Here is the party girl

Lauren's Cousins, Blake and Bryce all came to celebrate
Quinn was so excited to attend his first Birthday party!
The cake was so yummy that Blake decided to wear a majority of it all over his face
Bryce was giving the Birthday girl a ride to her party

Lauren doesn't even say "Blake" or "Bryce" she collectively refers to them as "BOYS". She loves the Boys and the boys love her back :)

TinkerDot Designs

"She is your mirror shining back at you with a world of possibilities. She is your twirling partner, dress-up partner, partner in crime. She is the one who makes you giggle uncontrollably for no reason. She shares your wins, your losses, she will hold your hand in silence and shine with happiness. She is your best friend, she is your sister."
The words on this canvas hand painted and designed by our friend Jenni Beamer say so much. This was a gift to Taylor and Avery and I thank Jenni for making it so special. She can customize anything as I had this done in the colors to match the girls room. She can even create pieces and paint furniture to match bedding sets. She is a talented artist and I would highly recommend you check her out at www.tinkerdot.com

Baby love

Blake, Bryce, and I were so excited to have the Dunneback girls over to our house for a visit today. The girls are 7 weeks and made the hour long trip to spend some time with us, we are so lucky!! They are adorable little baby dolls and I had one if not two in my arms at all times (I loved every minute of it).

Here are Avery and Taylor bundled in their car seats

Taylor Mae
Avery Jean
Sisters
Leah with the girls and Blake
Bryce had to squeeze in there too!
Twins Rock!

We also had some cuddle time with Quinn last night.
Uncle Tim with his favorite nephew

These poor boys are being raised as Lions fans, it is truly sad, I know.
We love all the baby time!

Thanks for making the trip to our house, Dunneback girls, it really meant a lot to us :)

Happy Birthday Taylor

Happy 4th Birthday to my beautiful God daughter Taylor Lynne. We celebrated over the weekend with a camping trip at Otsego Lake and spent a day at Avalanche Bay indoor water park. I forgot my camera and only have 2 pics to share:

Blake & Tay

They are like a little married couple, too cute!

A smoky picture of Bryce, Tay, and Blake after she opened presents around the campfire
A perfect weekend, can't wait til next year.

Diaper-Free!!

Yippee, we are diaper-free in our household for the first time in 4.5 years!!!!!!! Bryce is officially potty-trained and has only had 1 wee little accident in the last 5 days. He tells us every time he has to go and even goes by himself, calling us if he needs to be wiped. We still put him in a pull up for naps and bedtime, but he wakes up dry. We are so proud of him and help him celebrate every pee and poop as he comes out of the bathroom and announces to everyone in the room exactly what he accomplished in the bathroom. You gotta love 2 year olds :)

Potty Training Ups & Downs

Warning: Skip this blog if you are repulsed by bodily functions or not yet a parent.

I just LOVE being a Mom and everything that it entails, with one exception: POTTY TRAINING. Although I take great pride in my children's accomplishments, I despise the clean-up duty of accidents in the under-roos. I am a self-proclaimed Poop-a-phobe and cringe at the thought of scraping poop out of underwear and rinsing them clean. YUCK!!! Diaper changes I can handle, all I have to do is wipe clean into an easily removable disposable diaper and dispose. DONE. So, what I have resorted to is simply tossing the underwear into the trash as well. Not the most environmentally friendly option available, but it works for me. I will save energy by other means to do my part for the environment, but reusing poop filled underwear just isn't happening in this house.
So, I guess you have figured out by now that we are working with Bryce more on the potty training front. He had a great weekend and only had 2 accidents. He made it through grocery shopping and church without a piddle or a toot gone wrong. Whew, right? We thought it was going so well until today. He did great with the babysitter (minus a poop surprise) then came home and while playing with his train set peed himself silly, soaking to his ankles and pooped a huge mess in his underpants. Ugh.
This is why I don't like potty training, it is MESSY and so frustrating. I have to be supportive and loving while I want to throw up in the toilet and send him to Mimi's house until he comes home completely conditioned ;)
That's all for now, we;re still trying to stay dry around here!

Blake's First Day

Blake started preschool today and he did GREAT! He was so excited and was so grown up, he didn't hesitate once. I was so very proud of my big boy even if you couldn't tell through my tears. Blake went into his classroom, said hello to his teacher, put on his name tag, hung up his backpack, gave us hugs, and he never looked back. I spent so much time preparing Blake for his big day that I forgot to prepare myself! We walked out of his school and I started sobbing, not just shedding a few tears, but sobbing to the point of pausing to catch my breath. Bryce was a little perplexed, but bless his heart, offered me his blanket til I felt better. I don't know where it came from, but I was suddenly so proud and so sad at the same time that I couldn't control my emotions. Ugh, I am such a sap = (

I finally pulled it together and Bryce and I enjoyed our date together while Blake was at school.

Blake was treated to a cup of sugar-free hot chocolate for his first day

Mr. Man all ready to go
Precious Moments: Brycie was sad to see his brother go without him
Blake assured him it would only be for a little while
Blake saw his friends Colin & Ty

*Notice his plain backpack . . . I forgot he needed a full size back pack, so I presented Tim's old back pack to him and he couldn't have been happier. That is until everyone at school was showing their Spiderman and Star Wars backpacks, Blake told them, "Mine is just nothing I guess". I felt so bad, but when I picked him up I asked him what he thought of his backpack and he said, "Oh I really love it". Whew!

Here they go to school

Blake found his cubby and hung up his plain backpack

Then off he went to find a new life without me . . . just kidding!!!!

He was grinning from ear to ear when I picked him up and when we got home he showed Bryce and me everything he did at school today. It continues to amaze me how fast life happens and how well kids adjust. Somehow I guess I will have to adjust too :)

Fiesta

We were lucky enough to have several visitors this weekend. Mimi and Pa came on Friday and spent the night, then headed back on Saturday to golf.

Pa and Brycie in a goodbye snuggle

Then on Saturday our friends Drew, Traci, Bill and Jamie came for the day and we had a throw back to our Mexico Trip with a Mexican Fiesta

~The Girls~ Bill & Jamie

(expecting their first baby in January)

The Korneckys went head to head in a dance off
This looks like an intense game of "Wee Little Piggy"
We played yard games all day, ate til we stuffed ourselves silly, and played some board games at night until the Fiesta came to an end. Thanks for making the trip, friends, it was fun!!

PS-- Brycie pooped in the potty today, YAY!!! Then peed in his underpants and hour later . . . baby steps, baby steps.

Oreo-tation

This morning our big boy had preschool orientation, oh sorry, I meant "oreo-tation". He met his teachers and explored his classroom with a scavenger hunt. Once he collected all 10 stickers throughout the classroom he turned in his paper for an Oreo cookie. It was nice for Blake to have some one-on-one time with his teacher and become familiar with his classroom before he starts school on Monday. He was very cautious, but I know he will love school.

Here he is with his sticker filled apple name tag

"Hey, Blake, did you know school starts on Monday?"
AHHHHHHHHH!!!

While one child is growing up and heading off to school 3 days a week our other child is seriously regressing.

We got the exersaucer out for Quinn last week and Bryce has been having the time of his life. He is also telling me every time he pees and poops, but refuses to go on the potty :( It is so frustrating when he says, "Mom, I'm peeing in my diaper" and I can't get him potty trained!!! Oh well, we'll get there eventually.

Backyard Blast

Yesterday we had a cookout to enjoy our new deck with our best friends.

Monica and Jenna

Bryce told me this morning that "Jen Jen" is his girlfriend and he "will love her to ever". He even wants her to have one of his favorite fleece blankets . . . it must be love!
Kids & Sand: Messy Fun

Grace, Taylor, Blake & Bryce

They took turns telling stories while they ate their dinner and laughed hysterically even though nobody made any sense

The other O'Maras: Sean & Erica (Quinn was napping inside)
The Blusts: Rich & Lindsay
The Bell Family: Brandon, Andrea, and Baby Autumn
Thanks to all of our friends who came and made the party so much fun.

Happy Labor Day!