Reliving our Summer - Part 2

A few miscellaneous pictures:

Lexi and Jinx staying close

playing with friends, L and E at McDonald's

lovin' the slide

yeah, we've tried going to a reward system to potty train, buuuuut...it hasn't worked.

nothing has worked.

boo keeps telling us he's trying not to go in his diaper, but he hasn't been consistent at. all. about telling us when he has to go potty.  he's at a new daycare now, where they have all the kids at least try to go potty at certain times and we're hoping that, seeing the other kids (most of whom, I think, are potty trained) going in the potty all the time, that he will finally want to do the same.  we've been too busy this summer to try to do a 3 or 4 day intense potty training session...once it gets cold and we're home more, *if* we're still working on this, we're going to have a go at it again.

we went to visit Chris' family for Father's Day and had a fun weekend seeing family and cousins that we don't normally get to see.

going to feed the geese with grandma

"here's the bread, ducks!"

(not sure why this uploaded sideways, but I can't get it straightened out, sorry)

they were following him like he was the Pied Piper.

did I mention, I do. not. like. geese.

I'm glad grandma doesn't mind them because Boo seems to really like feeding them!

he's becoming more and more daring in what he wants to climb and play on.

definitely keeps me on my toes!

a treat at DQ

with great-aunt kay and great-grandma

four generations

having fun with grandma and grandpa

wiped out...Lexi joined him on his "bed" for the night

Aunt Lisa (godmother)

his darth vader look

blowing bubbles

with Chris' cousin's kids...would that be Boo's cousins-twice-removed, or his second cousins?

Jinx staying cool in grandma's backyard pond

Lexi took a swim in the backyard pond...by accident

Uncle Pat (godfather)

with great-grandparents, grandma, and some great-aunts

Reliving our Summer - Part 1 (of many!)

Wow, we've had so much going on around here that when I do have free time these days, the last thing I want to do is sit down at the computer to write.  BUT, as this is supposed to take place of scrapbooks for Boo, I need to start getting some backlogged pictures up and discussed so that we remember all the fun stuff we've done already this summer before too many more adventures start blurring memories of the old ones!

Beginning of June, we went to St. Louis and spent a little time at The Magic House, a children's museum.

our mechanic

spraying mommy with the water gun!

this boy loves to watch the sand make the wheels spin!

he was also obsessed with this thing...

the tennis ball rolls down and rings all the bells along the way...

...then you get the ball from the bottom and put it back at the top, to start all over again.

I could have read a book for the amount of time he stayed at this one place.

Great attention span!

daddy trying to make a bubble around Boo.

except it doesn't work well when your son keeps kicking the bubble as it's being pulled past his feet!!

 We also got to go to two Cardinals games against the Cleveland Indians (so it was a win-win for me!).

on the train ride from our hotel to the stadium

awe-some seats!!!!!

at the end of the game, the owner of the team came down and was sitting in the front row seats you can see over Boo's shoulders.  :)

We got these great seats thanks to a childhood friend of Chris' and had a blast the entire weekend.  Boo did really well at the games and we couldn't be more proud of our boy.  He continually impresses us with how he acts in public (at home, he can be another child altogether!).  We met up with some friends who live there and the boys spent some time playing at the (very hot) playground.

Boo's mobile office!
my cell phone in one hand, talking to Grandma (I think), and either playing Angry Birds or watching Curious George on the Kindle Fire.  kids sure do grow up fast these days!!!

Movie Monday - Blueberries

Brave

Yesterday, I dropped Boo off at the new daycare/preschool that he will be starting in a little over a week.  His current babysitter is going to be moving away, so we decided to go with a traditional daycare at this point rather than a home setting so that he is exposed to more children and more of a school setting.  We are so sad to be saying goodbye to his wonderful babysitter; she has taken care of him for two years, ever since I went back to work after he came home!!  To say it's going to be a transition for him is an understatement.

So, back to the new daycare...

They allow kids to have a Discovery Day, which is a free day for the child to be dropped off and "try out" the school, to see how they like it.  When we turned into the parking lot and I announced where we were, Boo cheered loudly and got very excited.  That excitement lasted while we waited in the lobby for his teacher, while we walked down the hall to his classroom, and until we crossed the threshold into the room.  There were about 8 kids in the room at the time and most of them came over to see "the new kid" and say hi.  They were all very friendly, but I think it was a bit overwhelming for Boo all at once.  As I was talking with the teachers, I felt him turn into me and wrap his arms around my leg.  When I crouched down to him, he had tears in his eyes, which he kept trying to wipe away to keep them from falling.  Oh, my mama's heart just about broke to see my little boy being so brave.  I gave him a hug and kiss, told him I loved him and that mommy was going to be back to pick him up later.  When he replied, "okay", in a little wobbly voice, it was all I could do not to start crying in front of him, which I knew would have completely set him off!  I told him he was going to have a lot of fun checking out all the new toys and meeting new friends, to which he again replied "okay" in that same little voice.  We gave each other another kiss and hug and then I left before he really started crying.  When I called the school later to check up on him, they told me he was doing very well and that all the other children really liked him.  I was so happy to hear that and even more happy to see him surrounded by the other kids during "library time" when I went to pick him up.  He was very excited to see me when I walked in, but also looked slightly reluctant to leave the circle of children.

I think my brave boy is going to be okay.

Which makes my mama's heart happy.

Together

today is another anniversary day.

our anniversary.

the day our family officially started.

when you and I became we.

the beginning of our journey through life.

together.

we've had our ups and downs.

we've laughed together.

we've cried together.

we've been through numerous losses.

but we've also been given a miracle.

we've grown stronger.

we've become parents.

here's to us.

happy 8th anniversary, honey.

it's been amazing.

i love you.

Boys and their Toys

the weekend after our Gotcha Day, we went to a local park where they were having touch-a-truck day. both my boys had such a great time and i loved watching them as they enjoyed the various-sized tractors.

we went from big...

to bigger...

to biggest!!

look how tiny he is in that wheelwell!

close-up to see how happy he was...look at that grin!

in the driver's seat.

daddy was really wanting to try it out too!

very cool dude

this park also has a small animal farm/petting zoo area which was open for the kids.

watching the fish in the pond

this big tom turkey was strutting his stuff...no fingers near the cage, Boo!

pretty coloring

heading back to the car, there is a hill that the kids sled down during the winter.

it was perfect at this time of year, though, to walk up and run down with daddy!

our Picasso.

have you ever used chalk after it's been rained on?

it's a gunky mess, but oh so much fun!!