It seems like it happened overnight! The day we left Port Aransas to come home, John and I took the boys to the pool by the beach house. Much to our surprise, Eli jumped right in, went under water, and paddled right over to us. I think maybe playing in the waves helped with the confidence, I don't know. Of course, the floaties help, too.
Before, Eli didn't like getting his head and face wet and wouldn't wear the floaties, so this was a big change! I'm very thankful Eli has decided to swim because it is much more pleasant and less stressful for me to take the boys swimming by myself during the day. Now, I don't have to keep my eyes on both of them at all times and keep both of them within arms reach at all times.
My favorite part of Eli's new swimming skills is when he kicks his feet under the water and his little wet head bobs up and down really fast. So cute!
I have a feeling Jed is not far behind in his swimming skills! He's always loved the water and definitely doesn't mind getting his head wet!
I promise to have some swimming pictures once we get a new, working camera.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Jed is Potty Trained at 21 months!
Yes, you read that right!
After hearing about this idea of potty training before age 2 and then seeing it work first hand with my friend Jen's daughter Eleanor, who is 19 months, I decided Jed could do it and it was worth a try.
The idea is that when they are younger, learning to use the potty is just another skill that they learn, like using utensils or talking. There are no emotions involved, it's just a physical thing. You take away diapers and make the potty the only option, so they just figure out that that's what expected of them. You make it matter-of-fact, so that when they potty, you just say something like 'pee pee goes in the potty' and maybe a good job or high five here and there. There's no praise, no shame, no pressure.
Sounds too easy, right? But it truly works if you stick with it, have some patience, and are willing to clean up some messes and do some extra laundry for a couple weeks.
I figured it's better to do it now rather than dragging it out for months. Eli did a great job potty training and was totally out of diapers 3 months after he turned 2. Now that I think of it, we did a lot of these same tactics with him so that he was mostly out of diapers before 2.
Jed did well overall with potty training. There were times when I wanted to quit or wasn't sure he was really going to do it, but perseverance prevailed! I gave it two weeks, and by the end of the two weeks, he was doing great using the potty. He still has occasional accidents, and I do have to initiate him going to the potty most times. We still put him in a diaper at night for now, but he's been dry lately in the mornings, so I'm thinking we'll try no diaper at night soon. The hardest part for me was staying home for a week to get him used to the sensations and going on the potty. I think I only made it two days at home. After that I just made sure he went or tried to go often when we were out. There's only been a couple accidents while we've been out. No big deal, though.
I am a believer now! It's so nice not to mess with diapers anymore. I did mostly cloth with Jed but had gotten lazy the past few months and was using disposable diapers. Now, we use none! Hooray! We did it!
PS- there are several cute potty pictures that I can't get and some that I've missed
due to our broken camera....booooo!
After hearing about this idea of potty training before age 2 and then seeing it work first hand with my friend Jen's daughter Eleanor, who is 19 months, I decided Jed could do it and it was worth a try.
The idea is that when they are younger, learning to use the potty is just another skill that they learn, like using utensils or talking. There are no emotions involved, it's just a physical thing. You take away diapers and make the potty the only option, so they just figure out that that's what expected of them. You make it matter-of-fact, so that when they potty, you just say something like 'pee pee goes in the potty' and maybe a good job or high five here and there. There's no praise, no shame, no pressure.
Sounds too easy, right? But it truly works if you stick with it, have some patience, and are willing to clean up some messes and do some extra laundry for a couple weeks.
I figured it's better to do it now rather than dragging it out for months. Eli did a great job potty training and was totally out of diapers 3 months after he turned 2. Now that I think of it, we did a lot of these same tactics with him so that he was mostly out of diapers before 2.
Jed did well overall with potty training. There were times when I wanted to quit or wasn't sure he was really going to do it, but perseverance prevailed! I gave it two weeks, and by the end of the two weeks, he was doing great using the potty. He still has occasional accidents, and I do have to initiate him going to the potty most times. We still put him in a diaper at night for now, but he's been dry lately in the mornings, so I'm thinking we'll try no diaper at night soon. The hardest part for me was staying home for a week to get him used to the sensations and going on the potty. I think I only made it two days at home. After that I just made sure he went or tried to go often when we were out. There's only been a couple accidents while we've been out. No big deal, though.
I am a believer now! It's so nice not to mess with diapers anymore. I did mostly cloth with Jed but had gotten lazy the past few months and was using disposable diapers. Now, we use none! Hooray! We did it!
PS- there are several cute potty pictures that I can't get and some that I've missed
due to our broken camera....booooo!
Beach Vacation
Last week we went to the beach in Port Aransas for 5 days with my family. The vacation was my dad and step mom's Christmas gift to me and Brynn and our families. Thank you Grandpa and Gramma Ninny! We stayed at a beach house, which was a very short walking distance to the beach. It was fun staying in the same house, all 10 of us.
John and I didn't realize that it only takes about 3 and a half hours to get to Port A. from here. It takes less time to get there than it does to get to our family in Dallas and we go up there all the time. I think that we definitely should take advantage of that and go to the beach more often! We've even dreamed about owning a house in Port A. and renting it out. That way we could go whenever we wanted and have a place to stay. Maybe someday!
I grew up going to the beach because my grandparents had a house very close to where we stayed last week. I don't think I'd been back there since my dad and uncle sold the place about 10 or so years ago. While we were there last week, went by the old house just to see what it looked like. It mostly looked the same except for some upgrades to the house and the palm trees in the back yard are now taller than the house. So many fun memories there!
Every time we visited the coast growing up, we had to go to Snoopy's restaurant. My grandparents had a boat that we would ride up to Snoopy's from the house, which was always fun. Of course we went to Snoopy's this visit. It was fun to bring the boys there and introduce them to Snoopy's fried shrimp and ice cream.
Another fun restaurant we went to was The Crazy Cajun where they dump your food (boiled shrimp, crab legs, craw fish, and potatoes) on the table and you eat it all with your hands! Needless to say, the boys loved this restaurant! The man playing the Cajun music while singing and playing a harmonica, accordion, and bass with pedals was pretty entertaining, too. I had his silly "beer, beer, beer" song in my head the whole trip, I think.
The other restaurant we went to was fun, too. We sat on the patio and got to watch boats bring in their catches of the day. All the fish were pretty big!
When we were trying to meet up for dinner the first night, it was chaos! We were on the way to Snoopy's to meet Brynn and her family with my dad and Cindy in the van. As soon as we pulled out onto the highway, John realized that the van was out of gas, and we were then stranded on the side of the highway...with the heat and mosquitoes. Miscommunication ensued! Brynn called to say that Snoopy's was closed due to high water and cars not able to get there. So we sent them to get some gas for us on their way in. John also ended up getting us gas as well when we thought he was just going to get my dad's suburban. He got to us first and filled up the tank, so Brynn and David got an extra can of gas for their ride home. Brynn and her family finally met up with us and we went on to The Crazy Cajun. Meanwhile, John went back to the house to get the gas washed off of him. He thought we were going to pick him up so he calls while we're ordering drinks at the restaurant and asks where we were. He was actually walking down the highway looking for us, waiting for us to drive by and get him. Finally, he made it to the restaurant after going back to the house, getting my dad's car again and driving to the restaurant! Not that you really care about all those details, but I wanted to write it here so that I could remember it later!
The only other glitch on our trip was that our camera broke the first day at the beach. So, I only have a few pictures right now. I also can't figure out how to get videos from the camera to play on the computer right now. Big bummer! I hope to get some of Brynn's pictures from the trip so I can post them here.
All in all, it was a fun trip filled with plenty of great memories! I'm thankful that the weather cooperated and also the oil...didn't see one tar ball!
John and I didn't realize that it only takes about 3 and a half hours to get to Port A. from here. It takes less time to get there than it does to get to our family in Dallas and we go up there all the time. I think that we definitely should take advantage of that and go to the beach more often! We've even dreamed about owning a house in Port A. and renting it out. That way we could go whenever we wanted and have a place to stay. Maybe someday!
I grew up going to the beach because my grandparents had a house very close to where we stayed last week. I don't think I'd been back there since my dad and uncle sold the place about 10 or so years ago. While we were there last week, went by the old house just to see what it looked like. It mostly looked the same except for some upgrades to the house and the palm trees in the back yard are now taller than the house. So many fun memories there!
Every time we visited the coast growing up, we had to go to Snoopy's restaurant. My grandparents had a boat that we would ride up to Snoopy's from the house, which was always fun. Of course we went to Snoopy's this visit. It was fun to bring the boys there and introduce them to Snoopy's fried shrimp and ice cream.
Another fun restaurant we went to was The Crazy Cajun where they dump your food (boiled shrimp, crab legs, craw fish, and potatoes) on the table and you eat it all with your hands! Needless to say, the boys loved this restaurant! The man playing the Cajun music while singing and playing a harmonica, accordion, and bass with pedals was pretty entertaining, too. I had his silly "beer, beer, beer" song in my head the whole trip, I think.
The other restaurant we went to was fun, too. We sat on the patio and got to watch boats bring in their catches of the day. All the fish were pretty big!
When we were trying to meet up for dinner the first night, it was chaos! We were on the way to Snoopy's to meet Brynn and her family with my dad and Cindy in the van. As soon as we pulled out onto the highway, John realized that the van was out of gas, and we were then stranded on the side of the highway...with the heat and mosquitoes. Miscommunication ensued! Brynn called to say that Snoopy's was closed due to high water and cars not able to get there. So we sent them to get some gas for us on their way in. John also ended up getting us gas as well when we thought he was just going to get my dad's suburban. He got to us first and filled up the tank, so Brynn and David got an extra can of gas for their ride home. Brynn and her family finally met up with us and we went on to The Crazy Cajun. Meanwhile, John went back to the house to get the gas washed off of him. He thought we were going to pick him up so he calls while we're ordering drinks at the restaurant and asks where we were. He was actually walking down the highway looking for us, waiting for us to drive by and get him. Finally, he made it to the restaurant after going back to the house, getting my dad's car again and driving to the restaurant! Not that you really care about all those details, but I wanted to write it here so that I could remember it later!
The only other glitch on our trip was that our camera broke the first day at the beach. So, I only have a few pictures right now. I also can't figure out how to get videos from the camera to play on the computer right now. Big bummer! I hope to get some of Brynn's pictures from the trip so I can post them here.
All in all, it was a fun trip filled with plenty of great memories! I'm thankful that the weather cooperated and also the oil...didn't see one tar ball!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Twin Falls
Recently, we found a new swimming spot called Twin Falls. Well, at least new to us. We love it for many reasons: it's less than 10 min. from our house, located in the greenbelt (hills, nice scenery), easy hike to get there, shady, cool water, easy swim for the boys. This place makes us like Austin even more.
During his lunch break, John has been running on the trails in that area of the greenbelt and then taking a dip in the water to cool off. So, he wanted to share the beauty of it all with me and the boys. The first time we went, it was only a couple days after John had been running and swimming there, but all the water was dried up! That's the only downside to this place...the water is running only if there has been plenty of rain, which is not all that often here in the summer. However, with all the rain we've had lately from hurricanes and such, there has been plenty of water. It's been very refreshing to find a new spot like this!
These pictures don't do the place justice, hopefully I'll have more for you after we go back.
During his lunch break, John has been running on the trails in that area of the greenbelt and then taking a dip in the water to cool off. So, he wanted to share the beauty of it all with me and the boys. The first time we went, it was only a couple days after John had been running and swimming there, but all the water was dried up! That's the only downside to this place...the water is running only if there has been plenty of rain, which is not all that often here in the summer. However, with all the rain we've had lately from hurricanes and such, there has been plenty of water. It's been very refreshing to find a new spot like this!
These pictures don't do the place justice, hopefully I'll have more for you after we go back.
Mother's Day
I don't think I ever posted these pictures from Mother's Day, so here they are. It was just a relaxing day hanging out with just the four of us. We went to one of my favorite restaurants, Casa de Luz, and had brunch. While we were there, we snapped some nice pictures of us, I think. Eli took the ones of me and John. Pretty good, huh?
Father's Day
I know, this post is late, but I didn't want to leave it out. For Father's Day, we went to Krause Springs per John's request. It is near Spicewood Springs, about 45 min. west of Austin. It is a beautiful place! They have a man-made pool, which is spring-fed, but we hung out at the natural pools. You hike a short way down where there are rocks with running water and small pools that were perfect for the boys to play in. There are also two other areas with deeper water, a rope swing, and a waterfall. There are plenty of camping sites there as well, so maybe we'll try that out sometime, too.
We ate a picnic lunch after we got there, hiked down to the pools, swam, ate snow cones, and then drove home. The drive home was fun, too, because after about 5 min. in the car, the boys were out. We wanted them to have a nice long nap, so we took the scenic route home. The boys ended up getting an almost 2 hour nap in the car because John and I were playing it by ear on how to get back home. The nice part was that we had a nice, uninterrupted conversation and got to see Wimberly and other small country towns along the way.
To top off the fun day, we had family movie night (watched Horton Hears a Who) and ordered pizza. All in all it was a fun, adventurous day!
Thanks for being such an amazing dad, Hubs! We love you!
These pictures are kind of random. I wish I had taken more. I guess I'll do that when we go back!
We ate a picnic lunch after we got there, hiked down to the pools, swam, ate snow cones, and then drove home. The drive home was fun, too, because after about 5 min. in the car, the boys were out. We wanted them to have a nice long nap, so we took the scenic route home. The boys ended up getting an almost 2 hour nap in the car because John and I were playing it by ear on how to get back home. The nice part was that we had a nice, uninterrupted conversation and got to see Wimberly and other small country towns along the way.
To top off the fun day, we had family movie night (watched Horton Hears a Who) and ordered pizza. All in all it was a fun, adventurous day!
Thanks for being such an amazing dad, Hubs! We love you!
These pictures are kind of random. I wish I had taken more. I guess I'll do that when we go back!
Friday, July 02, 2010
Date Night
Last weekend we volunteered to babysit for our babysitting co-op. We ended up only having two friends come, both girls. Eleanor, who is Jed's age, and Naomi, who is Eli's age. I thought it was cute because it seemed like Eli and Jed got a date night, too. It was more calm and quiet around here than it is when it's just Eli and Jed!
Thursday, July 01, 2010
The Richardson Resort
A couple of weeks ago, the boys and I went up to visit family for 5 days, and it felt like a sort of mini-vacation. We had lots of fun with everyone and did plenty of swimming! We stayed with my dad and step-mom, Cindy, this time. They moved to their new house about a year ago now, and we've only stayed with them for one night last Christmas. Well, we'll be staying there more often! There's plenty of room there yet it doesn't feel too big, the boys love the media room and the airplane room, and I love that it feels like a resort! The view in the back is so relaxing. They live on a golf course, so the back looks out onto the pond and all the trees in the back. The boys also loved watching the golfers and geese that were living by the pond. Eli and Jed had a big adventure with their cousins, Grayson and Garret, when they hopped the fence and went out onto the golf course one evening. They walked all the way around the pond and thought that was a hoot!
We also got to see my dear friend, Whitney, who lives in Plano. It's always good to see Whit and chat. Even though now, it's challenging to get a good conversation in while all our little boys running around! It's still nice to visit nonetheless.
Also, we got to surprise Mammy with our visit! She had been in the Holy Land for 11 days, so I couldn't call her and tell her we were coming. We ended up driving straight to her house from Austin so that we'd be there when she got back from the airport. She walked in the door and was very surprised and excited to see us standing there in her living room!
We also got to see my dear friend, Whitney, who lives in Plano. It's always good to see Whit and chat. Even though now, it's challenging to get a good conversation in while all our little boys running around! It's still nice to visit nonetheless.
Also, we got to surprise Mammy with our visit! She had been in the Holy Land for 11 days, so I couldn't call her and tell her we were coming. We ended up driving straight to her house from Austin so that we'd be there when she got back from the airport. She walked in the door and was very surprised and excited to see us standing there in her living room!
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