Summer Bash

Our playgroup had a big summer bash today and both boys just loved it!! It was all water play which is of course is their favorite thing!! It took Jack a while to warm up to the inflatable slip 'n slide but once he tried it on his own he absolutely LOVED it!!! He ate his first popsicle, enjoyed other yummy food and of course ate some sand! Mommy is exhausted!!!!! Not easy keeping up with both boys in the water, especially when Ewan missed his morning nap. He finally fell asleep in my arms just before noon...which of course made me even hotter. Oh well, we all had tons of fun.



Jack finally enjoying the inflatable.



Daddy's boy...checking out the "engine"!




Jack enjoying his first popsicle!




Ewan loving the pool!




The boys hanging in the hammock together.

Stressful Week

Today's tomato crop!!! Still plenty more coming in and already eaten plenty too!! Need to start making some marinara and/or salsa and canning it I guess.


Well it's Saturday and we're finally able to relax a bit again. Monday Jack started potty training. Day one was absolutely miserable, mainly for me. He didn't seem to mind at all. He went through all 15 pairs of his undies and then we pulled more out of the dryer as I washed them!!! A total of 18 pairs in one day. He obviously had many accidents in the beginning. As the day went on he would notice right away he started to pee, run to the bathroom and finish the job. He even pooped in the potty once. I was exhausted by the end of the day though so I broke down and put him in a diaper for the night.

Day two improved. He did two poops in the potty and was able to tell me in advance he had to go several times. He still had many accidents, but much less than the day before. He went to bed in his undies, had an accident as I expected.

Day three was similar to day two, though he didn't do any poops in the potty. By the end of the day he seemed to be regressing a little though. Went to bed in undies, had an accident by the time we went to bed and another by the time he woke up!

So by day four my expectations were lower. He didn't do well at all. He would pee in his undies and not even care to finish in the potty. I kept giving more chances and he just wouldn't go in the potty by himself. So by lunch time we gave up and went back to diapers.

At least I know we didn't quit because it was too difficult for me. If that was the case I would have quit after the first couple hours, not 3.5 days!!! He just isn't quite ready yet. It was more of a game to him. But there is time, he just now 21 months today. We'll try again soon when he shows more interest consistently. Ewan will enjoy the break...he didn't enjoy being left on the floor right before he started a bottle, or better yet in the middle of a bottle!!

Not only was the week busy with potty training, but the boys also seemed to be hitting a growth spurt. They were absolute pigs!!!! All week I was either feeding one or both of them or taking Jack to the potty.

Needless to say by Friday, Jack's first full day in diapers again. I was thrilled to get out of the house again!!!! Granted we only went to Wal-Mart but it was great. We did go to dinner and the zoo that night with Daddy too. Jack and Ewan both had great fun there. It was member's night and they got to see fun things that they don't usually do during normal hours.

Even though Jack was up late because of the zoo last night somehow he decided to get up before 6AM today. Ewan woke up not too long after that and Josh was out mountain biking. So I was hanging with two whiny boys AGAIN. After Josh got home I ran away to Fresh Market and enjoyed some time without the boys! We'll be having a yummy dinner tonight!

While the boys were napping I picked my tomatoes....not sure what I'll do with all of them yet! Unfortunately Ewan decided not to nap very long so my time to myself wasn't very long.
I tried to enjoy a cup of hot tea and a brioche by myself but no luck in that. Jack kept yelling "hot tea" and "sip".... My boy does love hot tea. He is definitely a Weitzel!! AND Josh and Jack kept stealing bites of my brioche. Not a moment's peace today!!!

Ewan has big news to share too..... he started crawling last Saturday!! YEAH EWAN!!! And then Monday he pulled up onto the sofa by himself!! It's all coming together at once for him! He is getting faster each day and likes being more mobile. He is quite proud of himself, and so are we!

A Moment of Silence

Jack has really done it now. While I was upstairs brushing my teeth and going to the bathroom I heard a loud noise from downstairs. So I headed down to find a dead soldier. Only it wasn't killed in the normal fashion....Jack killed it by throwing it on the kitchen tile floor!!

That's right, a bottle of liquor killed by my dear sweet son. Earlier this morning my mom brought by a fresh (we just finished our last one over the weekend) bottle of homemade limencello. Josh and I LOVE it! So I put it in the freezer and thought nothing of it. I certainly wasn't expecting to find it broken on the floor!! Jack didn't bother the last bottle in the freezer. He has a VERY BAD HABIT of going in the freezer the minute I leave the room to get some ice for himself and the dog. Guess this time he found something better.

Not only did he ruin our new bottle of limencello (which takes 5 days to make anyway) he was putting glass in his mouth as I came down. He thought it was ice!! Luckily no damage down and Ewan was napping at the time, dog outside. Guess we got lucky there! I'll be doing some hardcore mopping during naptime!!! Limencello is so sweet and sticky!

Potty training antics to follow when I have a moment's peace....guess that would be never though!!!

Water Fun

We need to send out a big thanks to Emmie M....she sold two of my Boob Bags recently. So I spent part of the money on a water table for the boys and they absolutely love it. They played with it a couple times this weekend. Ewan even tries to pull himself up on it, but the deck is too slippery and his feet are under the table! Needless to say more water ends up out of the table than in it but they have fun. Jack also LOVES being sprayed with the hose while filling the table.

On another note, the boys are absolute PIGS!!!! Lately Jack is eating another snack right before bed! And tonight Ewan ate dinner and a bottle and about an hour later he was hungry AGAIN!! He had half a jar of mac and cheese and then his bedtime bottle, plus extra!!! Needless to say I've got some cooking to do soon!! With Jack I cooked some of his baby food, mostly fruits and some veggies. This time I'll do my best to cook for of Ewan's. I pulled out my baby food cookbooks and found some yummy recipes.

Our next big task is potty training. WISH US LUCK!!!! We'll need it!!



Ewan and Jack having a blast!


Smiling Ewan!!



More water please!!!

Mountain Fun

Our mountain trip finished with a bang! Thursday as we walked out the door to go look for a hike it was raining. So we decided to go the the Forestry Discovery Center. It is mostly indoors and when the rain stopped we went on the walk there. Jack loved the center. Inside he "learned" all about forestry and enjoyed walking through a tunnel with natural habitats, seeing all the artificial animals in the woods, rock climbing.... On the walk at the center we saw a steam powered saw mill and most importantly for Jack...a steam powered train! He loved the choo choo.

We went out to lunch...needed some chili to warm up as it was only in the low 60s. BRRRR!!!! After lunch we planned on heading home so the boys would nap in the car....but the weather turned nice so we headed out for a hike and a trip to Sliding Rock.

The hike wasn't all that wonderful. It was rated moderate, but with one boy on Josh's back and another on my chest it was a little more difficult. It was all uphill out and then we turned back so downhill then. There were some pretty flowers, creeks, waterfall but not our favorite hike. We'll work on finding something more family friendly next time! Jack gobbled up his cookie he got at the bakery on the hike!!!!

And then the fun really started!!! Josh and Jack played in the water at Sliding Rock first. Then Josh went down by himself to check it out. It was COLD!!! He went down the fast side and had fun. Then Jack decided he was ready. He had tons of fun watching everyone go down so he got in line with Daddy. They went down the slow side and Jack LOVED it!! He didn't care for the big splash at the end but otherwise loved it. He had a huge smile on his face. They went down a second time and he still loved it. The crowd cheered as he went down since he was by far the youngest child going down. That's our DAREDEVIL!!! Got a video clip and am having problems uploading it....if I remember I'll post it to youtube later.

So needless to say we got a LATE start on the road. He went back to the house after Sliding Rock, had dinner and hit the road at 7PM!!! Jack hadn't even had a nap all day!!!






Looking Glass Falls 2008, Gretchen and Jack (pregnant with Ewan)



Looking Glass Falls 2009, Gretchen and Ewan



Josh going down Sliding Rock



Josh and Jack after going down Sliding Rock

Jack waving to his peeps at the steam engine

Way COOL!!

The boys fishing.



Jack and Josh at Looking Glass Falls.



Gretchen, Jack and Ewan at Looking Glass Falls.




Jack and Ewan waiting for lunch at Square Root!!




We are SOOOO enjoying the cooler weather in the mountains! We headed up to the Deuce (Oma and Opa's house) here in Brevard, NC Monday and will go back home tomorrow afternoon. The weather had been absolutely wonderful...Jack enjoys being able to spend time outside again!

The boys are still driving us insane getting up in the night and getting into absolutely everything...so it's not exactly a relaxing vacation, but what is with two kids under two years of age!!

We've been to the waterfall, Sliding Rock (Jack and Josh may go down it tomorrow), hanging out in town, cooking, "fishing".... Needless to say not much fishing gets done when there are two kids to watch! Jack ran into the lake...seems to have a habit of doing this! Josh went fishing again today, this time all by himself!!

Will have to go through my photos when I get home...there is one from this time last year of me pregnant with Ewan and holding Jack at the same waterfall we all went to today! Will try to post those soon for laughs!!

PLAY BALL......and play, and play, and play....

The boys went to their first baseball game and fireworks show yesterday...and boy was it a biggie. We went to see the Blowfish play and play they did.....it went into extra innings!!! Didn't calculate that into the staying up late factor for the boys!! Jack enjoyed watching the game.

I think Jack actually enjoying running all over the place even more! He would get up and run very often. We took turns chasing him. They also have a playground there so he loved playing on the slides. But even more fun was the mascots. He just loved giving them high 5s!! Every time he would see them he would start to run towards them with his hand up for a high 5!!!

Ewan had fun too. He loved people watching and managed to take a nap there too. By 11PM, however, we were approaching meltdown time. Jack was exhausted and the 12th inning just ended! Who knew how much longer it would be. We walked to the car and loaded the boys, moved the car closer in hopes of watching the fireworks from the car. And LUCK was on our side!!! The fireworks began at 11:15!!!

The boys were still "awake" so we took them out of the car. Jack wasn't impressed though....he nodded off on Daddy's shoulder. Ewan watching though.

We finally got home at midnight!! What a long day for EVERYONE!!!

All Boys

It is absolutely impossible to photograph two boys, especially ages 20 months and 7 months, together!! They won't sit still, move and look in opposite directions, eat grass and dirt, stare at cars...

Here is what is acceptable!

Ewan is proud of himself...he can now get from a laying down position to a sit all by himself! He thinks it is way COOL! We keep telling him that crawling is even cooler...hopefully he'll be doing that soon enough. Of course then he'll be getting into even more trouble!!

My BIG BOYS

Ewan napping in his newly lowered crib.



Jack testing out his new table!!





We survived teething and Jack's cold last week...now Ewan and I have the cold! We had one night when everyone slept through the night, now Ewan is getting up again with his congestion problems. Oh well, this too shall pass....just hopefully SOON!

My boys are getting older every single day. Jack had a couple milestones this week. Yesterday he rode in his car seat facing forward for the first time. He loved it, saw lots of cool trucks and a bunch of school buses. We rode with Oma up to IKEA in Charlotte. I do so love that place! Jack got a craft table and stools. We put it up in the bonus room and now he can start having all kinds of fun!

Jack also peed in his potty twice yesterday. We still aren't officially training...but if he shows an interest I think we may start soon. Not until we get back from the mountains though....don't want to deal with it while we're on the road!

Ewan also had a big change....he got his crib lowered. He is now a big boy too!! Still not crawling, so close though! He just needs to coordinate his arms and legs.

Now we just need to survive tonight....Josh will be out of town. I can only hope we all sleep well, but I'm pretty sure we won't!