Smoothie Madness

I'm not sure I was successful with my first trip with the 2 boys.  It ended well so I guess I was eventually.

First Trip with 2:
Keaton, Nolan and I recently went to visit a good friend of mine from high school.  April lives up in Sumas near the Canadian border.  It is about a 2 hour drive.  This was the first overnight trip I have been on with Keaton and Nolan and was Nolan's first trip anywhere.

The Smoothie:
On the way up I told Keaton we could get a smoothie from McDonald's.  I saw one but couldn't figure out how to get to it so I told him we would stop at the next one I saw....and I didn't seen another one. 
I found a Jack in the Box and told him we would see if they had smoothies, which they did.  I don't know if this was a good thing or bad thing since we will never visit the Bellingham Jack in the Box again and I'm pretty sure we aren't welcome anyways.

Crying to Screaming:
When we went inside Keaton was crying since it had taken so long to get a smoothie.  Nolan was crying because he had a poopy diaper.  We got 2 smoothies and headed for the bathroom. The minute we went in the lid came off Keaton's smoothie and it spilled all over the floor.  Keaton went from crying to screaming.  And they had no changing table for Nolan so he was now screaming too. 

Screaming to Total Hysteria:
I told Keaton he could have my smoothie when we got in the car.  As I handed it to him the lid fell off and it spilled too.  Keaton went from screaming to a totally hysterical child.  I changed Nolan's diaper on the floor in the backseat of the car and tossed Nolan's dirty diaper and the remainder of the smoothie into the garbage outside.  The smoothie hit the side of the garbage can and some sprayed on the front door of Jack in the Box.  At this point I think I was crying a little too and had to drive away, leaving the remainder of smoothie #2 on the door. 

Fixing Problem:
We were all a disaster but I really wanted to change that!  My last try was the drive thru Starbucks across the parking lot.  They had smoothies and cups with screw on lids!!!!!!!!!! Impossible to spill!!!!!  The lady did manage to spill a little on my car when giving it to me but I didn't care.  Keaton didn't spill any.

Happy:
During the last half hour of our drive I told Keaton I was sorry we were having such a bad day.  In a very happy spirit Keaton responded by saying "Mommy I'm not having a bad day"  This made all the smoothie chaos worth it. 

Uneventful Ending :
The rest of the trip was wonderful and uneventful....except when we were 5 minutes from home and very excited to get home and Keaton had to go to the bathroom.  He spent at least 30 minutes in the Taco Time bathroom going potty.
Here are two boys riding in a police car.  Luckily it's not a real one from leaving a spilled smoothie on the door of Jack in the Box.

Schools out for the Summer

Sadly Keaton's preschool has ended. I'm not sure why our country doesn't have year round school starting with preschool. Kids are out of school earlier enough to enjoy the Summer, especially with the long daylight hours.  And now a days it's assumed that kids go the preschool which is crazy because I didn't know anyone who went including me.  However I am a believer that someone with the experience and expertise can socialize and teach my children much more than I am able to.

Keaton loved going to school and I loved seeing how happy it made him. We are now trying to fill that empty time with going to the YMCA.  However, Keaton isn't thrilled with the room he plays in while I work out.  But when I pick him up he's always having a good time so I think it will be a good fit with time. Nolan of course doesn't know what's happening so he doesn't put up a fight when he goes to the infant room. Feed him and he's happy anywhere. 

Here are a few pictures from Keaton's school. Next year he will be at a new preschool three days a week for 3 hours.  What will I do with all my free time....ha....ha.  Free time is gone for the next 18 years+.  It's amazing how now a days it's assumed that all kids go to preschool.  When I was a kid I don't know anyone that went. 

Explosion!

When Nolan was born he weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces (I think...) which is a normal baby weight.  He was having a bit of a hard time gaining weight the first few weeks so we were going in almost daily for weigh-ins.  After two weeks he exploded and hasn't stopped.  At 4 months old his doctor said he could start on baby food but I wasn't in a big hurry. I guess with the second one things like this are less exciting because you know that gigantic mess that follows.  And I was afraid of how much he might eat.  We gave in and slowly (ok nothing with this guy and food is slow) and introduced baby food around 5 1/2 months.  And yes, his college fund may quickly go to jars and jars of baby food. Something he will regret when he graduates high school and realizes he ate his college fund.
Keaton sure does like to feed his brother.

Speaking of explosions I apologized to our neighbor yesterday in case our house explodes and causes damage to hers.  We have had a strong smell of burning wires on and off for the past few weeks.  We know the area of the house it's coming from but it was pretty unsettling.  Then our heater stopped working.  After lots of trial and error by TJ we currently think the burning smell and broken heater are related.  Good thing we have a Will, guess we need to update it to include Nolan soon!

Easter

The older kids get the better holidays get!  Well at least until they are teens and then have really high expectations.
Our Easter was almost identical to last year.  We went to an Easter party at a West Seattle community center where there were lots of fun games and of course an egg hunt.  Keaton ate all his candy from the egg hunt on the 10 minute drive home.

The day before Easter we went to the grocery store up the street where they attempt to hide 60,000 eggs.  It is worth going just to see a grocery store full of eggs, even in the beer isle.

 

Easter morning we attempted an Easter egg hunt but Keaton wasn't that into it (Nolan wasn't either).  But they sure did get some good stuff from Easter bunnies coast to coast.  Later that day we went to Rich's for Easter dinner.  And Keaton left kicking and screaming because he wanted to stay!

 

It's Time

I decided to combine two topics into one blog post because one will have no pictures which makes it less exciting (but no pictures for a good reason). Both are about "it's time" so I thought it kind of made sense.

It's School Time:
Keaton calls preschool school time. I'm doing a childcare swap with another lady who's son, Colin, is in Keaton's class.  Keaton and Colin ride to school together in Colin's danger car.  Keaton calls it the danger car because it has a small red circle with a line across the middle of a hand next to the door.  He recognizes that image to be danger.  Keaton and Colin have become good friends at school. Keaton pretty much does whatever Colin does.  I joke that Keaton has a "man crush" on Colin but TJ doesn't think it's very funny.  Here they are dressed up as scuba divers.

 While Keaton is at Preschool I watch Colin's little brother, Adam. He is the same age as Nolan but Nolan is at least twice as big.  We were waiting for a doctor's appointment last week there was a one year old girl in the lobby who weighted 20 pounds.  Nolan weights 20.5 pounds with a diaper on.  Here is the gigantic guy with his little buddy Adam.

It's Potty Time:

Last Friday we started potty training cold turkey.  We had a countdown chart and when it hit 0 I told Keaton they weren't making his daytime diapers anymore.  Days 1-2 was lots of accidents and lots of not wanting to go potty. Days 3-4 were less accidents but still a force to get him to go potty. Once we were one week into it he was doing really well. We are about 10 days into it now and he's starting to tell us when he goes or we will find him on the potty all by himself.  We have been nearly accident free the past few days.  I have been very impressed that he will go in public places and we haven't had a single accident yet when we've been out.  He went potty at school. Went potty in a restroom at the park. Went potty at the gym before swim lessons. Went potty at a play group.  And every time he goes he gets a jelly bean.  And now he's starting to forget about that incentive sometimes which is great.  We have some work to do on #2.  And aren't attempting overnight yet.  Yahoo for Keaton!!!



Back Yard Project

When we first moved into our house it had a really nice landscaped back yard with beautiful green grass in the back and front of the house.  Over the past few years we have realized our neighborhood is very wet and doesn't get good sunlight so the green grass is very mossy.  And the back hill has over grown.  So we brought in the person who's lawn looks like a putting green to help us out.  Brian!
The front grass is looking much better and Brian has done a great job of cleaning up the back hill.  We haven't got to the backyard grass yet since we are seeing if clearing out will give us more light so grass will grow properly.  If not then we will have to decide what to do...giant deck, pavers or my vote....fake grass.  I think Manny has enjoyed the cleared out hill more than anyone.  He spends all day out there now, barking at everyone that walks by.  I'm sure we are known as the house to avoid when going for walks.
Here are a few pictures.

Hair Cut

Nolan had his first hair cut one day short of 5 months.  Keaton's first was around 6 months.  One thing about having kids being born with lots of hair is that they go through the awkward stage when their hair falls out in patches.  The first picture doesn't really show how crazy it actually looked!  He did pretty good with his first hair cut, which is good because he will likely need them quite often like his big brother. 

 

 

 

Here is Keaton before his first hair cut

 

 

And getting his first hair cut