Belly laughs!!

Tonight we all got into big belly laughs - I swear there isn't a better sound in the world.  Will and Ellie had just gotten out of the bath, and E was in her diaper, trying to crawl, but instead she just was on her belly, kicking her arms and legs quickly, almost like she was swimming.  Well, Will thought that was the funniest thing in the world and he just laughed and laughed.  E then got a kick out of making him laugh, and she was giggling!! Of course, Patrick and I couldn't help but join in too.  Will then told Ellie to 'do it again' and on cue, she would kick and flutter again - and more giggles.  I was laughing so hard my cheeks and stomach hurt - P tried to catch a bit on video, so if I can, I'll try to post - I always think, I want to remember those sweet laughs and the way Will talks (Ellie soon too) that I want to remember the way his sweet voice says things.

He is pretty into Christmas lights right now - and loves being in the car and driving around to see them!  What a fun time of year with a 3 year old - and to experience Ellie's first Christmas together!  (Now, let's pray that Ellie's sores on her neck (yes, they are back again, the pesky sores from her neck rolls.  It bothers her so much when we have been putting cream on it.  Will had a similar sore on his groin area, and also was screaming to get in bathtub -they both have been so tough, but I'm hopeful we can kick this soon)  Again, i would take these minor issues over many that I know some struggle with.  We are so very blessed and I thank the Good Lord everyday for all He has given us.

Thank God for Belly Laughs, Babies, and our Blessings!

My baby is 3?!!

Holy cow?? How did that happen?  Can't believe that tomorrow Will will be 3... of course I spent some time looking through older pics the other night - and it seems so crazy that he will soon be a 3 year old (although he is starting to act like one more and more!)

It's funny - he can be such a sweet boy, a good helper, good listener, and then like any kid that age, something won't go his way and he will flip a switch and has shown us recently what a real tantrum looks like. Whew - 3 may drive us to drink :)  Luckily, they are few (knock on wood) and most of the time he has a great temperment still.

We celebrated his birthday with a party with his cousins, aunts/uncles, and grandparents at the bowling alley (he loved it and could have stayed all day) and then with a pizza party, cake and presents at Minksy's by our house.  It was a fun and successful party. This year his actual birthday (tomorrow) is the day before Thanksgiving, so Patrick and I are both taking the day off work and we are excited to celebrate all day with our birthday boy.  He is getting a new bike (shhh!!) so we are excited to see what he thinks!! It's so fun now that he knows presents, gets excited for his cake, etc.  Looking forward to this holiday season and seeing what he thinks about Santa and other traditions.

Ellie is doing awesome - although we have had to give her breathing treatments twice a day at home :( Ugh - it's no fun - for a few days it almost felt like her wheezing was getting worse - so I took her in again and they tested her for RSV, and didn't seem too concerned b/c her 02 sats were fine as well.  They keep saying it just sounds upper respiratory - but I feel so bad for her at times.  They have mentioned some people have sensitive airways - so I hope it clears up some though.  She is still our sweet, smiley, rolly polly girl though!  Doesn't seem to affect her mood - and she's just our little doll baby.  Makes me wonder what we ever did without her!

She loves jumping in her jumperoo, putting anything/everything in her mouth - and right at 7 months started saying 'Da-da'!!  (i'm working on the Mama one!)  It's so sweet when she stares up at P and says "Dada" - heart melted :)  She has recnetly gotten so wiggly too!! Hard to sit still when she eats a bottle (she wants to devour it!) and even in high chair - she is always throwing things down and slamming her hand down! She's a deal :)

We hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving - I know we are so very blessed and Thankful for our family of 4, for our health, and for each other.  God is good.

Ellie - 6 months, Will almost 3!!

Well - I really do have good intentions of blogging at least once a month - but hey - I'll give myself some credit that I'm still doing it at all!  I really am so sentimental that I know someday - I will love re-reading all these, and who knows, maybe the kids will enjoy it someday also..... or for the few of you that say they read these updates, this is for you too! :)

So, from last post - less than 2 months ago- we were doing our sleep and potty training..... So - I would say that Will did pretty well to start with the peeing on the potty, and had a few occasional accidents, but for the most part it was catching the poopies.  He would hold it in, until he was so constipated and it was a three hour ordeal to try to push the poopy out in the potty.  For about a week - we fought that, and he woudl eventually get it in the potty, but it was exhausting for everyone.  I guess I would say that it took about a month until it all finally sunk in... but now, we are officially potty trained!! He wears a pull-up to bed still - which is quite alright.

Now, for Ellie girl - again, last post, she was right at 4 months, and was waking up once in the middle of the night to eat.  That lasted for about a month I would say, then she had a brief spell that she was waking up multiple times a night, I was definitely still up several times between 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 months old.  However, (knock on wood) for the past several weeks, we put her down between 7:30-8:00pm and she wakes up between 6:30-7:00am!! GOOD GIRL!!!  Man, we all do so much better with some sleep (now, it's not HER fault that Mommy is staying up late to watch the Royals...seriously people, it's been SOO fun to watch the Royals win the Wild Card for the playoffs, one of the best baseball games, or sporting event I have ever witnessed, and now on to the ALCS championship games)  Anyway - back to the kids, they are doing great!!

In fact, Ellie turned 6 months about a week ago.  Seriously?!  How did a half a year go by already?? Why does time go by so fast?!  It seems like so long ago though that I was home on maternity leave.  I did take the day off for her 6 month appointment and just got to have a girlie day with my baby girl.  It was so fun and I would advise anyone to just take a random day off work to spend with their new baby - they grow up SO fast, especially the first year - looking forward to more days off with her with the holidays coming up soon. 

Anyway - she is doing great!  She has had a little cold though ( pretty much ever since she started going to daycare) - and slight wheezing.  I had taken her to urgent care, and they weren't too concerned, although Dr. Espe (yes, thank God we went back to Child Care limited and it was GREAT to see Dr. Espe again, it was kind of like coming home - is that weird to be attached to your kids pediatrician?!)  Anyway, he thought Ellie should have an albuterol treatment - holy cow!  I had no clue how horrible that would be for both of us!  They said she wouldn't like it, and would probably scream, but it would help her breathe in more of it and it would work better.  I was like, sure, I understand and I was prepared.  Until they said, ok see ya in 8-10 minutes---wha???? OMG, felt like the longest 10 minutes ever and once it was over E just collapsed in my arms, totally exhausted and just wanted to rest.  Sweet girl.  Anyway, it did open her airway, which was good, and I'm praying we don't have to continue that through the winter with cold/flu season coming up.  God bless any parent that has to go through that regularly.  (It did remind me of the days when my Mom would have to crank my sister's braces to make her teeth straight and she would scream bloody murder.... made me realize how hard that must have been for my Mom to feel like you are torturing your kid, for their own good) 

Ellie lookd great otherwise - she is a whooping 18 lbs 8 oz (90%), 26" (50%) - and she's as rolly-polly, and jolly as ever.  Another milestone - is exactly when she turned 5 months (it was Labor Day weekend) she started sitting up on her own!! She also started finding her toes- and I just love it!  When she loves laying on her back, and grabs her toes with her rolls just folding as she does so :)  Makes me so happy - she loves being kissed on her sweet cheeks, neck, belly, thighs, and I just can't get enough!!  Will is still such a great brother!! He honestly just adores her, and frequently tells her 'shhhh, it's ok Ell-wee, it's ok, don't cry, I'm right here, I'm right here" :) 

Will has just in the past month begun to speak more and more like an adult.  It honestly amazes me how over the last year how you can just have a conversation that they can fully comprehend, and now communicate back as well.  He cracks me up - and P and I often call each other in the morning after whomever does drop off (usually me) and I have to tell him something funny Will says...and we just like to update each other on how it all went. 

In fact, one day I was picking Will up from St. Luke's, and I had been presenting at work that day, so I was wearing some higher wedge shoes, and Will is so used to seeing me in flats (duh, I'm a Mom, I used to love wearing heels to work, but I'm so practical now!), anway, I picked him up, and he said "You have cool shoes Mommy?" - and I laughed and said, "yes Will, they are pretty cool" , and he replied, "you going to church Mommy?"  such a funny guy.  Another one - we were driving past a church the other day, and he said - "there's a church!"  I said, "good job Will - what do we do in church?"  he says "I put money in the basket" - I said, "yep, that's good, but what else do we do?"  and he says " ummmm, I say hi to Father"  - I said, "yep, that's good too, but what else"  - and he thinks for a minute and says "oh, I play cars!!" haha-- that's true....answer I was looking for Buddy was pray though, or say thank you to Jesus! :)  Pretty cute though!

I will let the pictures below sum up the last couple months of fun that we have had!

GO ROYALS!! History - first post-season appearance in 29 years!



Day date out with my Hubs for Matt Petcoff and Amy Schwartz' wedding



Cheesing it up



Mommy and Ellie day date - Ellie, 6 months old



Fall trips to the Lake are just as much fun!!

Big brother helping feed Ellie a bottle



Sweet girl - enjoying a Saturday breakfast tradition at Eggtc




Pumpkin patch fun! Oct. 11th




E at Pumpkin Patch




My sweet boy - enjoying a night out after family pictures




Ellie is eating!! So far she likes it all :)




Look at me sitting up!! 5 months




Nothing sweeter than these two babies sleeping so peacefully



Potty training AND Sleep Training

Ok - so I still don't know if we were smart or stupid, but we thought that since we didn't have anything going on this past weekend, we would try out the 3-day potty training method that we had heard about/read about.  The basic philosophy is remind your child over and over to "Tell Mommy or Daddy when you have to go potty" - and just really focus on them the entire weekend, don't ever leave their side, and catch them when going potty and rush them to bathroom.  Lots of praise, encouragement, rewards, and accidents :)  (first step is throwing out all diapers - ah!!)  So, we were pumped and ready to go.  I will say---it was a tough one to start as Will was SUPER tired and cranky from a long day at Daycare, but we started anyway.  Saturday - I would say we were at about 50/50---as the day went on he got better and better.  Night time he definitely hasnt' woken us up yet to say he has to go, and we are considering putting him in a pull-up, just b/c it seems like we will be changing sheets for quite awhile (however, he woke up dry this past morning and we have about 4 layers of sheet/mattress pads )  Anyway, so far he hasn't gotten a poop in the potty, but after 3 days at Marilees and St. Luke's he has only had 1 pee-pee accident.  We of course started the "Pee pee in the potty" song and dance that occurs once Will successfully goes.  Yes, Patrick, myself and Will all dance around and sing this...  :)  At least we are having fun!!

Now for Ellie girl - ok, it seems SO cruel and heartless when I even admit that we started to let her cry it out.  I hate saying that and it absolutely was SO hard for my Mama heart to let her do this.  But, honestly, she cried for about an hour Friday night (we just ripped the band-aid off for the poor girl - she was used to being swaddled in the rock and play, and we put her in her crib in her room without swaddle)  Anyway, after that hour, she did really great through the night - and only woke up once!)  Every night since, she has done better and better!! Nap times through the weekend were pretty rough for her too - (and so rough on me I had to leave the house for a bit)  But, I know it's really good for her, for her other caregivers, for myself too if we are all sleeping a bit better, and that she can learn to self-soothe.  I just told myself - she won't remember this, she won't remember this.  And luckily - she still woke up and gave me these adorable grins--- I just can't get enough of her, and can never give enough kisses all over those sweet cheeks!!

Summer fun!!

We have had such a great August!! It has defnitely flown by!  Early August we celebrate Grandma Bobbie's 60th birthday in Beatrice.  We had SO much fun!! Amy and I put together memories from Mom's friends and family - the goal was to get 60 and we surpassed that!  Mom loved getting to read the stories, and I can't say how much I loved receiving them throughout the end of July - I would get so excited to read what someone wrote and shows how loved Mom is - and was so fun to hear stories from friends from when she was a young Mom (around my age, or even before!)  (What, my Mom had a life before me?!!)  A wonderful party in Beatrice too to celebrate Mom - and we had a blast all weekend in NE - and spent some time at the pool too!

We also had Ellie's 4 month appointment (where we waited ANOTHER 1 1/2 to see the Dr. and decided we are going to switch back to our old clinic with Dr. Espe - even if it's a further drive, that was the second time and we were getting pretty upset.  Not ok for both the 2 month and 4 month, scheduled appointments to wait that long!!! UGH!)  Anyway, everytrhing looked great, Ellie weighed in at 15 lbs 12 oz (80%). 

Ellie is just getting more and more fun!! She is giggling lots and just lights up when she sees Mommy and Daddy, and Will too!  Her brother still is a pretty big fan, and usually is smothering her with kisses and "Hi sweet girl" - and he hears me say "It's ok, it's ok, mommy's here" and he repeats that to her all the time in a soft voice all up in her face!  Ha! She gets plenty of love and attention.

Favorite Newbown items

I swore that I would always remember the items that I used the most or couldn't do without when I had Will, and crazy how fast you can forget those essential items once you are in a different stage with your kids.  So I wnated to jot down some of the 'must-haves' that the second time around really worked for us:

1) Rock and Play sleeper- holy cow!  I had heard these were great and was skeptical, until Ellie wouldn't sleep in the pack and play, and only in bed with us.  I didn't want to make this a habit, and was desperate to find an alternative, so we bought this (about $50 at Target) and it was the best. purchase. ever.  We are believers now too!! She has slept great in this, uses it for naps and overnight- and as she is approaching 4 months - we know we need to get her out of it soon, but has been great since we started it, right before 3 months (we should have started sooner!)

2) Miracle Blanket - a great swaddle option!  I love the Aden and Anais swaddle blankets, but they aren't strong enough for a fiesty sleeper.  The Miracle Blanket (again found at Target, about $25) is so awesome we can't leave home without it and keeps her snug to stay asleep.

3) Boppy pillow - those first couple months of feeding, I absolutely love this!  Now, as she's bigger, I don't use it as much, but for first 3 months, I find it SO essential.

4) Nursing bras, tanks, and pads - I am a total leaker with my milk, so an endless supply of nursing pads is important to me. I found that I really like the Johnson and Johnson brand.  Also, a few good nursing tanks for night time - and bras for the day.  Good investment to have several, so when leaking or spit up gets on this - no big deal to throw in the laundry :)

5) Baby Connect app - I paid a few dollars for this app, but was awesome to track all my feedings.  This was my saving grace when I had no clue what time it was, when I last fed, or what side.  Again, I probably really relied on it most heavily the first couple months, and now dont' use as much, but I still like to track her height/weight on it.  Love this as I always had my phone with me during feedings, so was easy to update.

6) KickKee Pants - Sleep sacks/pjs: this brand is the BEST for sweet, soft, sleepy pajamas.  They make you want to snuggle up your baby and wonder why your clothes don't feel like this.  My favorite baby shower gift!

7) WATER - seriously, when I nurse my babies I get SO. THIRSTY. Have several large water jugs around - or better yet, have your husband get you some water :)

8) A good pump - I tried to stock up some milk so I had a good supply/extra's before going back to work.  It's crazy how fast when going back to work that supply can deplete (hard to keep up with how much she is eating) but I'm so glad I dedicated my team/efforts while off work to do that so I didn't feel tied to always having to be attached to her.  Another great benefit this time - is we have an outlet in our car, so I am able to pump a lot in the car, and then just reach back and feed her a bottle.  Has helped a TON on car trips!

I think that's all I have off the top of my head - may need to edit this if I remember anything else!

Month 3

Well - like always I had intended to write an update on here for quite some time, and thought I should before Ellie is another month older!

The biggest transition for us all this past month was me going back to work.  I must say - although I hated leaving my kids, and still have to pry/peel myself away from them in the mornings- it was a little easier this time around just because we have our established care providers (that wasn't new) and our routine's, and I know that I can be a working Mom.  It also helps that Mon-Tues, both kids are going up to Marilee's, and Wed-Fri, Meghan Connelly, who has watched Will over the past summers, she is coming to our house to stay with Ellie, while we take Will to St. Luke's Daycare for those 3 days (didn't want to subject her to those crazy days with two kids!)  Meghan will be leaving to go to Benedictine College mid-August, and then Ellie will go to St. Luke's also, and we will do Marilee's on Monday and Friday's, and STL Daycare Tues-Thursday.  I do feel very blessed to have this schedule and the people caring for our kiddos.  I am enjoying my new role as I've gotten back to work - I am now focused on creating a new onboarding program/cirruculum for our new hires, as well as in charge of all learning/training for my org (of about 150 people) I LOVE it!  I am able to have really flexible hours, which is great, and can work from home whenever I wish (I prefer a Starbucks/Panera when I can!) but it's great to have the flexibilty of schedule and can work from home and at nights when needed to make my days more flexible.  I feel very fortunate to work for a company and team that's very supportive of that model and work/life balance.

Ellie is doing great - and getting bigger and chunkier by the day!  And I just LOVE a chunky baby - especially my chunky baby!!  I kiss all over her sweet cheeks and those big ole' thighs so much!  I just know those days of holding her, loving all over her are so limited (have I mentioned how sentimental I am??? Patrick teases me about it - but really, I just want to cherish every single baby/infant minute that I can, b/c I know how darn fast it goes!)  I would say that around her turning 3 months - it got a little harder with her being awake/alert more - and not just snoozing all the time.  She was doing great with sleeping at nights - I was bragging on her sleeping 8 hours straight the night I went back to work, and sometimes going 5-6 hours pretty regularly - but we have kind of taken a step back.  I think the older she is getting the more aware of her surroundings and awakens easier.  But, she usually (we have had a few rough nights for sure), usually goes back to sleep pretty easily - and compared to big brother is easier with the sleeping and is overall a very happy, laid back baby.  She just wants to be held, or around people all the time (hmmmm... Patrick says she gets that from her Mom :)) 

Will is still being a great big brother---he usually wakes up and is very excited to see his baby sister, and I find it so funny how much he copies the things we say!  He will say 'Oh, hi sweet girl' or "Hi Ellie Gracie" or "It's ok, Mommy's here, Mommy's here Ellie" :)  He gives her sweet kisses too every night and when he wakes up, and usually doesn't hug her too hard.  It's funny how at his age (2 1/2) how he can go from being his usual sweet self, to flipping a switch and throwing some big, crazy tantrum over the silliest things.  Typical toddler stuff, but man, it's crazy how he can go from one extreme to the next!  I have heard that the 3's are actually more difficult, so I can't wait for that!  Ha- but good thing he generally is a very well behaved, fun little boy.  I always find it pretty funny the things that he says (again, picking up SO many of our terms and things that P and I say) and how grown up he can sound... he definitely gives us a lot of laughs....as well as our share of frustrations as well when he isn't listening.  (He will tell me over and over at times to 'Be a good listener Mommy' - ha!)

Since our Florida vacation (right before I went back to work) - we have had some fun weekends.  P had a Bachelor party for his friend Matt Petcoff, so I had the kids most of the weekend at the end of June.  4th of July was spent down at the lake with some awesome memories with the kids and Daniel/Gwyn, and John, Kathy and Emily.  We love our lake trips!  Then, Patrick and I had a quick adult night out to celebrate Brad Birkel's surprise 30th birthday and the next day I got to celebrate my friend (and pretty much sister in law) Cristin Decker's baby shower with some good friends.  The following weekend we went to NE to celebrate my Grandpa Mack's 90th birthday - and got to stop in Seneca to see Great Grandpa Joe and Grandma Betty -special weekend with our 'Great's'.  I love the picture of Ellie, me, Mom and Grandpa - we are all exactly 30 years apart, as I turned 30 this year, Ellie was born, Gpa is 90 and Mom will be 60 next weekend.  So special - and I love that we got that picture.  I was definitely thinking a lot about my Grandma Mack and how I know she would have loved to be there - and I most definitely felt her spirit there with us all, in our celebration together.  She was and is missed though.

So, that's our update in a nutshell.  We are preparing for Mom's 60th birthday this weekend, and for Ellie's 4 month appointment check-up, as well as getting ready for my sister to have baby #3 - we are calling the baby TieBreaker - as they are not finding out gender.  I can't WAIT to know if we will add another little sweet girl to the mix (that's my guess at this point) or a sweet boy that will be our baby (if it sounds weird that I call it our baby, it's just that my sister and I have always said that we love each other's kids like our own, so I kind of feel like it's my baby too!)  Even though our times together can get a little chaotic with all the littles, on both sides of the family.... we are so fortunate that our kids get to spend so much time with their cousins.  I love that Will always prays for each one of his cousins at night - and he loves them all dearly :)

More soon - this Mama needs to get to bed!

Month 2 recap

We have had a great month!! May is always crazy - and June was filled with lots of fun also!  I have really loved and cherished my time at home with my littles - and I know I will always look back on these 3 months with very fond memories that I will treasure for always.  It fills my heart to know how blessed we are, how good God is, and how much joy just having time for friends and family brings.  I just feel very at peace and happy now, and am going to enjoy the last week and a half we have together.

Ellie's 2 month checkup (besides having to wait 2 hours at the doctors office, trust me, was NOT happy, and was HUNGRY!) - the good news is that Ellie looks great, she is growing and was at 12 lbs (50%)  The doctor mentioned that we try to put her to sleep while she is a little awake to get her used to it.  Up until then, we were swaddling her (Miracle Blanket - was a recommendation from a friend) and that was helping her sleep pretty good in between feedings in bed with us. She would also start out and do pretty well in the swing for several hours, But, I knew I wanted to get her out of our bed as soon as we could (whenever we set her down in Pack and Play, she wakes right up) - so I had heard lots of good things about the Rock and Play - cradle/bassinet like thing to put her in, and the reviews were all raving, so we bought that hoping she would like it.  And we just tried it last week - and it's been GREAT!! She has slept through the night for the last 3 nights!!!! AMAZING!! So happy for all of us to be getting more sleep, and she wakes up and just has the HUGEST smile on her face.  So, everyone is feeling more rested.  She is doing a bit better with being put down and likes her swing in small doses and her playmat a little bit more. 

Some recent highlights:
Thomas the Train in Baldwin City, KS w/ Amy, Cody and kids:

Trip to Florida: Last week, we took a family trip down to Fort Walton Beach, Florida.  It was SO great!! I knew Ellie would be great, but was more concerned with how Will would do on the flights (we had 2 legs of the flights to get to Pensecola, FL and then an hour drive to Fort Walton)  The trip started with a 6am flight, and I assumed that it would be a pretty quiet time at the airport - WRONG!! What was I thinking?? That's when everyone needs to fly out for their week - UGH.  I have never seen the line so long to ticketing for Southwest.  OMG - we looked at each other - there was absolutely no way we would make it through that line.  So, we went outside to the Skycap and even that line was super long, but we hoped that we could possibly make that one.  We checked bags 40 minutes before flight, and luckily nothing else went wrong.  Our bags made it to Pensacola, Will did great on the flight, and we got upgraded to an SUV rental.  Ellie did blow out her diaper, but just when we got to the car, so we put on the back-up outfit and no big deal.  We went to a store there to pick up supplies for the week and were good to go. 

Monday - once we arrived, we were all exhausted from being up since 4am, so we all took a nap in the condo, and then we all got changed and went out to the beach.  Will did great!! He got his feet a little wet and even jumped in the water!!  He played in the sand, and we were thinking he did so much better than last year at the ocean.  After about an hour or so, it was time for dinner, and we went to Rick's crabhouse and had an awesome dinner of fresh seafood.  I had Redfish, Amberjack, and Ahi Tuna, and Patrick had a big seafood platter.  It was really fun.  Once Will went to bed, P, Ellie, and I sat outside on the patio and played some Gin and had a few drinks.  Love listening to the ocean waves and feeling the ocean breeze.  Ahhhh....

Tuesday - even though Will slept awesome, he still woke up and HATED the beach that morning.  He did not like the sand all over him, he was getting sand in his eyes, and even Ellie was being pretty fussy - and everytime I reached through the sunshade to give her a binky - it was getting sand all over her.  So, we all didn't last too long out there, but thought we would try the condo pool since we were all dressed.  Will actually played quite a while there and enjoyed throwing the ball around and let Patrick walk him in the water.  We went back up to make sandwiches and then went to the Air Force Museum they have there - which was AWESOME!! I had no idea how impressive it would be to see all those fighter planes, jets and helicopters.  It was a very nice set-up and Will also loved all the airplanes.  Then was time for Will's nap, and during that Patrick and I took turns spending time on the beach.  While it would have been nice to all be down there together, was still nice to be there, relax, and just soak up the sun!  That night we went to a place that was called Stewy's shandy- just a sit on picnic tables for dinner, but they had GREAT, fresh seafood as well.  After that we went to the Pier/boardwalk - and it was super fun!  There were people fishing from the pier, and we saw a few great catches of some BIG fish - and also saw lots of dolphins jumping out of the water!  So fun, and was great to just let Will run around a bit!

Wednesday - we woke up and it was very overcast and rainy.  We had decided that we would go out for brunch in Destin, so we drove the 10 minutes or so into Destin.  Destin is way more the resort type of area, very nice, (Fort Walton is definitely more quiet) - we really liked Another Broken Egg Cafe - and then drove around Destin for awhile.  I will say - at this point - Will was being SUPER crazy, fussy/whiney, and we were all sort of losing our patience.  We couldn't wait to get back to the condo and have him take a nap!  He was pretty much a stinker until finally the sun came out around 4pm, so we thought not to try the beach again for him, and just went ot the pool - and we actually had a really nice time there.  Then, we really wanted to try a restaurant called Boshamps for dinner in Destin, and it was AMAZING!! We sat outside (even though pretty breezy and possible chance that it was going to rain again) - and it was really nice view, we had a great server - had a fun strawberry, lemonade drink - and one of the best meals!! I had a seared grouper with spinach on top of a feta souflle with a tomato jam on top.  It was just the BEST flavors.  Even Will's fish sticks were really, really good!  Then, we finished up an awesome evening walking down the boardwalk area there, and it was really fun.  Lots of people and shops around - people rock wall climbing, balloon makers, face painters, zip lining, bungee jumping, etc.  We each grabbed a beer, walked around and enjoyed the live music too!  It was one of the best nights!

Thursday - our flights back were a little later.  Unfortunately, I was having really bad stomachache, and was in the bathroom prior to our flight and was praying I was going to make it on the plane.  Ugh.  Luckily that flight was uneventful and thank goodness for iPads and Will's love for Cars, he basically just watched that during all the flights.  We had a 2 hour layover in Nashville, so we lucked out and there was a kid's play area right by our gate, so he played there and we had lunch.  I made a Mama mistake and didn't pack enough diapers for Will in the carry-on, and turns out right before we are boarding our last flight, Ellie started getting really fussy (really her only big crying moment on the trip) so I am trying to calm her down, and P took Will to the bathroom, changed him and had to put on one of Ellie's diapers on him!!! Haha!  Poor kid - we knew it could hold a #1 - but if he went #2 again, it would be a BIG mess!  Thank goodness we all made it back, he was only tugging at the side of his diaper a little bit :)

I think the most afraid Will was the whole time was on the shuttle bus back to our car!  It was a pretty jerky ride, and after one particularly quick brake, Will says' Whoa, what's going on in here?' :)  We laughed pretty hard!  Another funny thing, Will would always get pretty nervous on elevators, but since our condo was on the 4th floor, we had to take it a lot.  He started looking forward to it, and then got excited to go on what he called the 'alligator' :)  So, he got over a few fears at least on the trip!  Both kids were troopers, and we have some sweet memories.

Visit from Great-Grandpa and Grandma Alternhofen -whom Ellie shares a name with! :)

Pool Day:

Lastly - we all had a great Father's Day as well.  We visited my Dad Saturday in Atchison, and then celebrated Patrick and Bill on Sunday.  I am so blessed to have such a great dad for my kids and they both absolutely adore him (ok, me too :)) 

Will has also graduated into a toddler bed (I know, finally) and so far has been doing pretty good job of staying in bed and telling us when he is awake so we can come get him.  We did however put up a gate outside his room so he can't 'wander' during the night!