Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Summer time - 4th of July, Summer Lake trips, New house, Potty training and more!!

Yikes!! I have so many great intentions of blogging more often (mostly because my memory is so horrible these days (I blame the kids and post-pregnancy brain!!) and so that someday my sentimental self and remember these sweet days of life with young children.

So Will is 4 1/2 and Ellie is 2 1/2 - and I LOVE this stage for both of them.  Looking back - the first year is tough.  At least the first 3 months, and then 3 - well, 3 is the toughest year.  When Will turned 4  - it was like - there's my sweet boy.  He is SO fun!! Talking like a little adult - his imagination is running wild - and I love hearing what is coming out of his mouth.  He's a good helper, good older brother and just a really fun kid.

Ellie is also getting quite the personality.  Her sass and sweetness is coming out more and more.  She still loves to cheese for the camera.... her hair has grown SO much over the last year - making her look more like a little girl and much less like a baby.  She always gets compliments on her hair (which does have really nice natural layers and just lays really nice)  I have no idea whose hair she has - definitely not mine.  Will has his mama's hair - thick, dark and grows so fast!

Anyway -what have we been up to since June??

Major change - we picked up and moved from Prairie Village to Overland Park.  We did it.  And we LOVE it!! I absolutely love having more space- and we are getting settled in.  We moved out for 2 weeks to  get our kitchen and living room updated - and I am thrilled with how it all turned out.  You never know when picking out all the pieces seperately how it will all look together - and I am so excited with how it turned out.  The kids did great with the transition.  They are still going to St. Luke's on the Plaza, where Will just started in their pre-school class, and we will continue going there until he starts Kindergarten next fall.  (It is about a 30 minute drive from our house, and either of our work locations (luckily - i have been working at Cerner's South campus quite a bit, which is very close to home) but even though it's a bit of a drive, we both feel like for 1 year it's ok - since we know St. Luke's, we have enjoyed the teachers, the experience for the kids and weren't ready to pull them.







Love visiting Grandpa D in Atchison


Besides our new house - we snuck in several trips to the lake.  Once we went just the 4 of us, which was a nice little vacation - and another trip we went with some of our good friends.  Such a fun time!! We are so lucky to have wonderful friends and a fun place we get to hang with them.  The weather was perfect everytime!! 4th of July - was a bit wet, but we still got to see fireworks.  My favorite memory was sitting on the deck at the lake - and Will would yell out "Big Ka-Boom-Ba" with my Uncle John (Big John) after a big firework went off.  They had so much fun!  Ellie was still scared of the fireworks - I mean, come on, it really does sound like gunshots - I would be scared too!! but luckily she has always been our good sleeper and slept through it all.








August - we celebrated Grandma Bobbie's birthday for dinner at our house with cousins, we also lived with Bill and Marilee for those first 2 weeks - which was really nice of them and fun for us!! We enjoyed lots of dinners together - and watching the Olympics together in the evenings.  Lots of swimming and gymnastics - which is SO fun to watch.  I love the summery Olympics and already can't wait for the next games in 2020 (wow - that's going to happen fast, but sounds so cool - the year 2020!)  We also celebrated Patrick's birthday - it was on a Tuesday, so I took the day off work and kept the kids at home (without Patrick knowing ) and planned to meet him and his co-workers for lunch without him knowing.  It was a fun surprise - and the kids and I had a really fun day together!! I love taking off random week days off work to hang with the kids.  I did this one other day in August and we went to the zoo.  So fun!!


Anniversary Date Night to Plate and The Well - 6 years!!














Another big event - is over Labor Day weekend we started potty training Ellie.  At St. Luke's she has been using the potty since turning 2 in April - so it was time.  She has done AWESOME!! Still having a few accidents - but doing really good!  She loves getting an M&M for a treat if she goes and so far it's working pretty well.  (However, Potty training is STILL one of the hardest and most exhausting phases of being a parent)  I'll be excited when she is completely ready and having minimal accidents, but I will miss patting that little diaper bottom :)

Some other fun things that I notice about the kids at this stage:

Will:

  • Loves to color!! He loves to draw and could sit for 30 minutes at least doing this these days!
  • His imagination has taken off so much - his stories and thoughts are so fun to hear!
  • Along with that - he also is having more bad dreams, poor guy
  • He is also doing better at swimming and getting the water at the lake or the pool - putting his head under was a big accomplishment

Ellie:
  • She loves to ask 'Why' after about everything we say - sometimes it's just really funny, other times i'm like Ellie ' just because' :)
  • Long hair!! So pretty
  • Pee-peeing on the potty
  • Loves to laugh with her brother (their giggles are so sweet) and also likes to tease and torment him!

We have had beautiful fall like weather - and I absolutely LOVE it!! 80's, sunny, breezy, and just perfect.  I'm going to soak it all up!! Fall weather in the midwest is quite wonderful.  Hope this finds you well and hope you hung in there to read the recap :)  

Thank you God for our beautiful life, and for all of our blessings!