3rd Birthday!

It was William's 3rd birthday today. Man, I feel like it was yesterday that I delivered him. What a long day that was, but oh, so wonderful! This birthday was super fun, as he completely understood that it was his birthday, that he was turning THREE, and the cake, candles, streamers, etc. were for him. He helped me make a cake yesterday, and today I frosted it and he decorated it.There was an area on the cake that was highly concentrated with sprinkles, but it just make that piece extra delicious.

We ordered pizza and the kids had fun (probably too much!) sitting on the picnic table eating. Aside from the spilled juice, utensils in each others drinks, sprinkles everywhere, lots of fun was had! (Have I mentioned how much I LOVE having linoleum? It's my hero.)


He managed to blow out his candles without getting burned, and without spitting too much on the cake.



This big wheel was his present from us. I have more photos of him opening his other gifts, but the kids moved so fast that most are just a blur. My friend took some pictures with her camera (yes, I still don't have a camera, but don't fret! It's on order and should be here soon!) so I'll try to post more when she sends them to me. (No rush Kim! ;-))

After a quick nap, we surprised him with a train ride. He absolutely loved it! Abby, however, was less than thrilled with it, as she wanted to walk up and down the aisles, but William was in heaven.

Anxiously waiting to get on the train!
It's impossible to get them to stand still, look at the camera, and SMILE all at the same time. And my photo composition needs some work, too. Sorry about the chopped off policemen heads.


Abby fell several times this past week, literally on her face, thus the scratched-up nose and upper lip.



Hanging around the station, waiting for our return ride.

John finished getting the big wheel put together and after supper William took it out for a spin! Tomorrow we'll get all the cool stickers put on, but for now, he was just very eager to ride it out in the open...and away from Abby. (He gets quite upset when Abby touches his things!)

Anyway, I think he had a great birthday! Thank you to all who called, skyped, mailed gifts, left messages, and came to his party!

New Carrier

I recently received this really cool baby carrier, the EcoSash, from Infantino. I had high hopes for it, since it looked very similar to another baby carrier that I had tried and really liked. It's called an EcoSash because there are no buckles, only long....you guessed it, sashes. Once the baby is in the carrier you wrap the various sashes around your body to secure it. That part worked really well for me, since I could get it to fit perfectly around me. It also has a reversible panel so you can choose a pattern or just plain black. I liked the pattern.



This carrier can hold a baby on the back, forward facing on the front, and inward facing on the front. I tried both front positions with Abby and she disliked the inward facing one but liked the outward facing one. Both of these positions were very easy to put her in. Then I tried the back. Oh my. Like the directions say, it is best to have another person to help, and I completely agree. This position is a bit harder to get a baby into. Once she was in, though, she loved it! I suppose because the thing appears to be very comfortable....for the baby. I didn't find this position to work for me, as the shoulder straps kept falling down. I think it would work much better if there was another strap of some sort keeping the two shoulder straps together, so they wouldn't slide down my arms.I think this would would really well for a small baby, as the front positions are great!

I am a participant in a Mom Central campaign for Infantino and have received various Infantino products for my participation.

Bathing Beauties

I was going to drain the pool and put it away for the year but....we got another round of heat so we filled it up and the kids have been playing in it once again.

The Broken Bone Club

John has now officially entered it. He tripped down a couple of stairs Sunday night and ended up breaking it in a couple of spots. Here are the juicy photos. The fall caused a "moderate to severe" laceration (I peaked in his medical records and that's how they recorded it) between the toes that required 6 stitches. We thought initially that his toe was hanging by a thread, with all the blood and pain that the fall caused.



The kids are SO wide-eyed when Daddy comes hobbling on his crutches!

He saw another doctor today whose opinion is that surgery isn't necessary. A quick call to my brother (along with emailed x-rays!) calmed our doubts, as he concurred with that opinion. (The doctor in urgent care said that surgery was probably warranted, since it was several bad breaks.) Anyway, he has to keep the foot elevated and will go back at the end of the week. Guess our apple picking excursion I had planned isn't going to happen this year. (I will post later about my peach canning and peach jam making! I'm addicted to canning now and can't wait to make applesauce!)

Anyway, thanks to my wonderful neighbors who graciously came over and stayed well into the early morning hours with our kids. Just don't know what we would have done without them!

William's Room

A sneak peak....we are finishing it now! (This is NOT royal blue...when it's dry its navy.)

You can't see it in this picture, but the other three walls are gray.

Bike Riding

(Yes, I matched her outfit with her helmet!)

Abby had her first ride in the bike seat the other day! William decided to stay home and play with his friends (they live across the street, so no, he wasn't home alone). She looks upset in the pictures but she had a great time.


My camera is still lost (I've given up trying to find it) so please excuse the poor quality of the photos. They were taken with my phone. I am, however, excepting donations to my camera fund.

Tid Bits

Just the other day....

William found a penny. A cool 2010 penny that I had put aside since I thought it looked neat. He found it and quickly claimed it as his. The conversation went like this:

"Hey William! You can throw that penny in the fountain at the mall!" (It's one of his favorite things to do at the mall.)
"Ummmm.....no. I don't want to frow my money in the fountain. I want to frow mommy's money in the fountain."
And with that he tucked it safely in his pocket.

*****

The four of us were driving in the truck one night, trying to find the fire line. We determined that the fire must have died down since we really didn't see anything too exciting. William then, completely out of the blue, asked if we were going to see a school bus.

"We see a school bus Mommy?"
"No, dear, we won't see a school bus because it's night time. And furthermore it's summer and school is out."
"I want to see a school bus."
"Sorry, there aren't school buses out now."
We continue driving for another mile or so and lo and behold a school bus comes roaring past us.
"Told ya, Mom."
John looked at me and silently started laughing. "Guess he told you!"

*****

Abby has been eating a lot more solid foods these last few weeks. She still chocks a little, but not as bad as she used to. Well, she started chocking the other day and I immediately dropped what I was doing with William to scoop the impeding food from her mouth.

"Just leave it, Mom. Abby oh-tay."
"We can't let Abby chock. She'll die if we don't help her."
"That's oh-tay. We'll buy a new Abby."

****

Well, I'd post some new pictures, since I've got tons more to share, but I've lost my camera. John took pictures of William getting his ice cream from the ice cream man (Grandpa A gave him some money for pooping on the potty, so this was his long-awaited treat!) and since then I haven't been able to find it. I'm hoping that by announcing this dire situation to the bloggy world it will miraculously show up. You know, Murphy's Law and all.